Standing In Time Of Trial

And Josh and I have enjoyed this
weekend so very much. The service this morning and
have looked forward to our worship service this evening. And we're not going to tarry
a very long exit. church tonight because we have
to go back to Ashland this evening. Most all of you here know about
Becky's problems, and she goes in the hospital down at the University
of Kentucky Cancer Center tomorrow morning. They'll be leaving early
in the morning getting for her lectures, and so we have to be
home tonight and encounter with people's children while they
go down for this initial visit with the surgeon and with the
specialist and with the other people they have to meet with
tomorrow. And we'll be keeping their children. And so we might. I don't like to drive this late
at night, but we must do that. And you all pray for her and
pray for us and ask God to give us his grace. Now, tonight I want you to open
your Bibles to James chapter 1. Now, I'm speaking on this subject.
Let's read verse 12. Here's the text. James chapter
1, verse 12 is my text. Blessed is the man that endureth
trials." In other words, blessed is the person who stands up under
trial, stands up under trial. That's what that—I looked that
up very carefully—that's what he's talking about. Endureth,
stands up, endures in a gracious fashion the trials that God sends. For when he's he shall receive
the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that
love him." Now, my one great purpose and object of this message
is to comfort and encourage us, the people of God, who are subjected
to trials in this life. And I prepared this message after
I found out about our daughter's cancer. And it's sort of born
out of my own feelings and my own need. And, you know, I asked
Bob to preach tonight in Asheville because I felt like that the
people would like to hear from him right now. I feel like it
would be me being away and the elders being there and let him
say what's on his heart. The greatest hymn and the greatest
sermon and the greatest writings are written or preached or sung
under trial. They're born in trouble. The
greatest, when you read something, someone writes or hears something,
someone preaches, or hears a song, hears someone's written, it's
written under trial. And when God's dealing with them
in a special way. One of the things that we experience
when these sorrows and trials and troubles come our way is
a temptation, first of all, to doubt God's love. Did you know
that? It's just a temptation to say,
why is this happening to me? You know, why is the Lord... You're familiar with these trials. Why is this taking place? Why
is it happening? And then we began to question
the Lord's providence and purpose. What, we think this, what purpose
can this serve? You thought that. What, when
something to you or to your children, and when something happens to
your children, it's worse than to you. You take it ten times.
I told Becky that. I said, honey, I'd take this
ten times for you if I could. But you can't. And you think,
well, what purpose will this serve? What good is it going
to do? We question God's providence and God's purpose in these things,
and sometimes we feel like just quitting, don't we? And you know,
you just say, well, you know, just can't take anymore. Just
can't take anymore. And when this time of burden
and trials are heavy upon us, we experience what David experienced. And this is where I want you
to turn first to Psalm 73. Now, Psalm 73. And David went through this,
the man after God's own heart, the sweet psalmist of Israel,
child of God. God brought some heavy trials
his way, and this is the way he's feeling. I don't need this.
I don't want this. I don't desire this. And I don't
understand why it happens to God's people when folks that
don't love God seem to be possible. People who do not know God, who
do not love the gospel, who do not worship, who are not in worship
services, who have no use for the gospel, it just seems like
everything goes well for them. They're just fine. Everything
they touch just seems to go so well, and God's people, a full
cup are wrung out to them. That's what David's dealing with
here. beginning with verse 2 of Psalm 73, or verse 1, Psalm 73. Truly God is good to Israel,
I know that, even as such as are of a clean heart, a regenerated
heart and soul. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone, my steps had well now slipped. I was envious of the foolish
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. There are no bands
in their death. Their strength is firm. They're
not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like
other men. You've seen folks that don't love God, or do not
love the gospel, or don't worship God, and yet they prosper, and
everything goes well for them. Their children seem to get along
all right, you know, and all of these things. That's what
David is saying. They're not in trouble. Verse six, Therefore
pride compasseth them about as a chain. Violence covers them
as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than the heart could wish, and they're corrupt. And they speak wickedly concerning
oppression. They speak wickedly about God's
people, take God's name in vain, swear against heaven, speak loftily,
look at verse 9, they set their mouth against the heavens, and
their tongue walking through the earth, just cutting folks
to pieces, swearing, cursing, carrying on bitterness and all,
but they just prospered and along the way. Then verse 10, He said, Therefore
His people return hither, and waters of a full cup are And
they say, does God know? Is God aware of my pain, my heartache,
my trouble, my suffering? Is He aware of this? Does God
know about this? Is He interested? We sing a song,
Does Jesus Care? That's what David said, does
He care? Is there knowledge in the Most High? Behold, these
are ungodly people who are prospering in the world, who are increasing
in riches. Truly, I have cleansed my heart
in vain ever, washed my hands in innocency. For all the day
long have I been plagued and chastened every morning." Isn't that something? Now, if I talk this way, look
at verse fifteen. If I say this, I will speak thus,
behold, I should offend against the generation of our children."
I'm going to offend, if I talk this way, I'm going to offend
God's little ones. I'm going to offend the memory
of generations of God's people who suffered, who suffered load and weight of preaching
the gospel, and who really gone through some heavy trials. If
I talk this way, I'm going to offend them. And verse 16, when
I thought to know this, to understand it, to enter into it, is just
too painful for me. I just couldn't figure it out.
That's what it said. It's too much for me. But now wait a minute. I went to the sanctuary, to the
house of God. I went to where prayer was wanted
to be made. I went to where the Word is preached.
I went to where people met to worship God. I went to the sanctuary,
to the house of God, and then I learned some things. I understood
some things. It's good for us to assemble
together like that Psalm 27. It's good to picture that here.
that scripture you read this morning. Isn't it comforting
and a blessing? I went to the house of God, and
then I understood their end. I saw these people who were wealthy
and influential and prosperous and powerful and wicked and corrupt,
and yet there were no bans in their death, and I stand out
with fatness and have all that they could wish, and God's people
have a full cup hung out to them, and they're troubled, And then
I saw these folks, and I saw this is all they have. This is
it. When this life is over, they're
over. This is all they have, this vanity in flesh and prosperity
in things of the earth. All they have, God's people,
have a blessed hope of eternal glory. I understood. Their foot's
going to slide in due time. Ours won't. Ours are on the rock.
On the rock, Christ Jesus, solid foundation, a blessed hope. To live is Christ, to die is
gain. For them to live is flesh, and
to die is loss, total eternal loss. I understood that. I put things in the proper place
and respect. That's what I did. Verse 18,
Surely God hath set them, thou didst set them in slippery places. When the cup is full, they shall
slide in due time. They're in slippery places. Their
foot will slide in due time. Thou casteth them down to destruction. How they are brought, listen,
unto desolation, as in a moment, in a moment. They're utterly
consumed with terror as a dream. Listen, as a dream
when one wakens. So, O Lord, when Thou awakest,
Thou shalt despise their image. What's this say? When God awakes,
when God rouses up. That's what it says. God's not
asleep. God doesn't slumber, no sleep.
And it seems like that He's not That's what David said, Do you
know? Do you know what's going on, Lord? Is there knowledge
where the most high? Oh, yeah. You know. He sends our prophets. He permits their prosperity.
At the time of their ignorance, he winks at them. Not that God
winks at sin. He tolerates it. He puts up with
it. But then, when the cup is pulled, That's what he said. And when
God rises up, there'll be no remedy. When God rises up. In verse 21, now listen to David.
He's repenting now. He said, and all of us need to,
when we question God's providence, when we find fault with His good
providence, it's time to repent. Listen, when we have any doubts,
when we entertain any doubts of His love, when we entertain
any doubts of His goodness to us, Then he says, verse 21, my
heart was grieved. I was pricked in my reins, my
innermost being. So foolish was I, ignorant. I acted like a dumb dog, a beast
before thee. I shouldn't have talked that
way, you see. You see, I repent. I shouldn't
have even thought that way. I shouldn't have questioned God's
providence. I shouldn't have for even a moment rebelled. Because,
verse twenty-three, nevertheless, I'm continually with thee. Thou
hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward receive me up into glory. Whom have I
in heaven but thee? There's none, there's none upon
earth that I desire besides thee. It does not matter satanism or
Satanism. But what I'm pointing out is
this, what I'm saying. is that when these trials came,
David was human. And when you experience great
grief and great sorrow and great conflict and fears and doubts,
just go back and read the Word of God's people that suffered
the same thing. And they had to be taught Even
David had to be called. He had to go to the house of
God. He had to go to the Word. He had to learn some things.
And that's what we're doing tonight. So let's look at the book of
James, chapter 1, for a little while concerning these trials. James, chapter 1. Now, it says,
James, a servant of God. And let's pause right there and
look at the word servant of God. James, a servant of God. He claims
no special distinction except this, possessed by all of God's
children, we're all servants of God. We're servants of God. We never rise above this blessed
position. We never want to rise above this
blessed position. We're servants of God. We say
with the servant over there in the book of Exodus, bore my ears.
make me a willing, loving bond-slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'd
rather be a doorkeeper in God's house than to dwell in the tent
of the Lord. I'm a servant. All right, move
on. I'm a servant of God and of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and He's writing to the twelve tribes which are
scattered abroad, strangers scattered abroad. I know Israel, natural
Israel, national Israel, was referred to as the Twelve Tribes,
named for the sons of Jacob. But James here had in mind not
just the remnant of Jews from the Twelve Tribes, but all nations,
all nations, all people of God. In other words, James said, I'm
a servant of God, and I'm writing to God's people everywhere. This is another one of those
general epistles. to everybody, to you and to me.
Now look at verse two, my brethren, my brethren. Can you have any
question about who's intended here? My brethren, my family,
my true family, the family of God. My brethren, my sisters,
my family, none of the beloved of God are exempt from trouble.
Now look at this statement here. Everyone look at it. My brethren,
count it all joy when you fall into different trials and troubles. When I was preparing this message,
I was sitting back in my study and Doris was busy in the kitchen.
And sometimes when I'm studying, I have to get up and walk. I
can't just sit. I can't stand the pressure sometimes. I face this. How do you explain? I went in there to her in the
kitchen, and I said, I want to read something to you. Count
this joy when you fall into different troubles and trials. And I said,
I asked her, I said, how do I explain a statement like that? How do
I tell them that James is saying, listen, this is another translation,
consider it the highest joy when you are enveloped in a severe
great trial? That's a tough assignment, tough
assignment. But I believe the Lord gave me
some answers. Consider it the highest joy when
God is pleased to put you in the furnace of triumph. Now,
how can I explain that? Number one, if God puts you in
the furnace of triumph, consider this, it's evident that He loves
you or you wouldn't be here. Isn't that right? He loves you
or you wouldn't be here. These folks we've been reading
about, God doesn't love them. He loves His sheep, His children,
His elect. Let me show you that in Hebrews
chapter 12. God loves you. God loves you. Or He wouldn't discipline you.
He wouldn't chasten you. He wouldn't put you through these
trials if He didn't love you. In Hebrews 12 verse 5, listen,
And you have forgotten And you have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not
the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of
him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourgeth,
he disciplines, he corrects, he teaches every son whom he
receiveth. God dealeth with you as a son. You don't whip the neighbor's
children. You don't discipline the neighbor's children. You
discipline yours. Whose children do you love the
most, your neighbor's or yours? Yours. That's why you correct
them and why you discipline, because you love them. That's
why you do that, because you love them. It's not because you
don't love them. It's not because you hate them.
And you're not punishing them. You're not punishing them. You're
correcting them. You want them to be what they
ought to be. And in order for them to be what
they ought to be, they've got to have the firm discipline of
a loving parent. And God read on. For what son
is he whom the Father has chastened? If not, if you be without chastisement,
whereof all of his people are partakers, you're bastards enough,
son. I want him to love me and deal
with me as a son, don't you?" Well, when we go, when we're
in these trials and afflictions, troubles, it's because God loves
us. That's right. All right, the
second thing I came up with is this. Turn to 2 Timothy 2, 2
Timothy chapter 2. It is His way of using us to
bless and bring His elect to Him. We're witnesses. We're witnesses of Christ. We're
ambassadors of Christ. And if He's going to use us to
bless His people with the knowledge of the gospel, we're going to
have to have a faith that is strong enough that we might tell
them of God's love and mercy. We've got to... I can't tell
what I don't know. I can't preach what I don't believe. And I've got to be taught these
things. I've got to be taught them in affliction. I've got
to be taught them in trouble. My faith has to be proved. If
I'm going to be a blessing to you, I've got to have that foundation
right here. You've got to have it. You can't
be wavering. You've got to have that foundation. He establishes it in trouble.
Listen, Paul said in II Timothy 2 verse 8, Remember that Jesus
Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according
to my gospel, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even
under bonds, even under prison, even under fetters. But I tell
you, the Word of God is not bound. Therefore, I endure all these
things." What things? Trouble, prison, trial, trouble. I endure these things for the
elect's sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is
in Christ Jesus with eternal bliss." That's right. We've got to be
taught ourselves the grace of God. We've got to be given ourselves
the faith of Christ and unflinching faith, unflinching guilty and
confident that God's going to trust us with His elect. You
want the Lord to bring in here His elect and save them and make
you a blessing to them, then we've got to have our faith first. That's right. We've got to have
it first. We've got to have it. All right,
the third thing, over here in 2 Corinthians 1, The second group
is chapter one. Now God sends these things our
way because He loves us, because we're His children, because we
need these trials and troubles. Secondly, He sends these things
our way to equip us that we might be a blessing to His elect, to
His children, to His people. the knowledge of the gospel,
the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. That faith has to be saddled
in our hearts, saddled in our hearts. This testimony here from this
pulpit, from these men and women here, if he's going to send his
sheep in here and his elect, he's going to put them in the
hands of proven people, not novices, proven people. who has tested
through the years and tested through trouble, tested through
trial, and he can turn his sheep over to you, knowing you'll be
faithful, because you've been proven faithful. You see what
I'm saying? You've been proven faithful. All right, here's the
third thing. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
3, "'Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort.'" Now listen,
"...who comforteth us in all our troubles, that we may be
able to comfort them which are in trouble, with the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted with God." Isn't that clear? Isn't that clear? You know, you
can put your arms around one of God's children who's born
through a trial. Well, I'll give you an example.
One of our ladies in the church, just in January this year, her
daughter was found with cancer. She's 50 years old, the daughter.
Owned it up. And she, six months, she was dead.
I preached her funeral last month. When this came up with Becky,
this dear lady came to Doris after the service. put her arm
around, she said, I know where you are. You're able. See what I'm telling you? We
are able. She knew where she was. A lot of folks don't, but some
of you do. And you can, God puts us through
these experiences so we can help folks, so we can truly say, you
widows, You can talk to a lady who lose her husband and say,
I know where you are. I know your heartache. I know
you grieve. I'm with you. You men who've
been through great sorrow and trouble can say to a brother,
Brother, I sympathize with you. I comfort you. I pray for you. I know where you are. You see
what I mean? And you can't do that unless
you do know where they are. That's why He comforts us that
we might comfort. And we might cope with it. That's
right. If Barnard used to tell me when I was young, he'd say,
Henry, don't ask God to use you. He might. And if God uses you,
he's got to teach you. He's got to prove you. He's got
to prove you. He's got to. It just has to be
done. And you don't, we don't learn until we experience something. We've got to experience it. When that lesson is experienced,
it's learned. It's learned for good. Learned
for good. And then here's the fourth reason
why we can consider it joy, the highest joy when God's pleased
to try us. He loves us. He's got to elect
who He's going to save. But He's going to use people
who know the gospel, who believe the gospel. And they've proven
it through the years. They prove it by standing firm
under all circumstances. He's not going to trust his children.
It's just like some of you got babies, and they're down there
in that nursery. You're going to trust just anybody with them?
No, see, you're going to trust another mama, one that knows,
one that cares, that's all. And then he does this in order
that we might comfort others. And then fourthly, turn to 1
Peter 4. I Peter chapter 4, I Peter chapter 4, it says here
in I Peter chapter 4 verse 12, now listen, Beloved, think it
not strange concerning the fiery trials which is to come, as though
some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice, here we go
again, rejoice, inasmuch as you are a partaker of Christ's sufferings. Our Lord was a man of solace,
acquainted with grief. That's right, despised and objected
to sin. Our Lord knew what it was to
weep, what it was to hurt, what it was to suffer. He learned
obedience for the things he suffered. God had one Son without sin. He doesn't have any sons without
suffering. If we reign with Him, we'll suffer
with Him. If you live godly in Christ Jesus,
you'll suffer. Christ suffered. Now listen,
and you rejoice that you're partakers of His suffering, that when His
glory shall be revealed, you'll be glad also with exceeding joy. You suffer with Him, you reign
with Him. That's right. If you be reproached
for the name of Christ, happy are you. for the spirit of glory
and of God resteth upon you. On their part he's evil spoken
of, but on your part he's glorious." Isn't that rich? Partakers of
Christ's suffering. Our Lord repeated without a cause,
Rejoice that you are chosen of God to be identified with Christ
in his suffering, and when he enters his glory, you'll be with
him then. Now here's the last one, 2 Corinthians
12, and I hope I've made good on this. It helped me. 2 Corinthians
12, Rejoice, consider it the highest joy when God puts you
through the furnace and be through the trial, because he loves us,
because he would equip us to be a blessing to his elect, because
he would comfort us that we might comfort others. that we might
be partakers of Christ's suffering, and fifthly, every one of us
need to be reminded over and over again that we're still flesh. That's right. That this world's
not our home. This is not the place of our
rejoicing or our gloating. This is a vale of tears and a
valley of the shadow of death. And we have to be reminded of
that, lest we be exalted above nature. You know, pride. I read one time there's pride
of face, people are proud because they're more beautiful than someone
else. There's pride of place, people are proud because they're
somebody they think they are anyway. There's pride of race,
people try to trace their heritage. I heard a fellow one time say,
well, these people who are always looking back to find their ancestors,
the glory and fame of their ancestors, are like turnips, the best parts
under the ground. But there's pride of race, and
then there's pride of grace. And we don't need that, do we?
Who makes us see the difference? What is thou that thou dost not
receive? So the apostle Paul, he went to the third heifer,
he spoke in other languages, he healed the sick, he did all
these great mighty things. He wrote 14 of the 27 books of
the New Testament. And God knew that he needed a
thorn in the flesh. Let's read about it. 2 Corinthians
12, verse 7, "'Unless I should be exalted above measure, through
the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn
in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me. And I repeat,
lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought
the Lord thrice, three times, that it might depart from me.
And he said, Now, Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee.
My strength, my grace, my glory, my strength is made perfect in
your weakness. Therefore will I rather glory
in my infirmities that the power of Christ might rest upon me.
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecution, in distresses for Christ's sake.
For when I'm really weak, nothing at the end of my own strength,
then I'm strong. That's when I rest in Him. That's
when I trust in Him. All right, let me give you a
couple more things from James before I close. James 1, let's go back here again. I want you to see something right
here. James 1, verse 2, Therefore my brethren consider it the highest
joy when you are enveloped in great trials. And it says, when
you fall into different troubles. When you fall. A fall is not
planned. A fall is not anticipated. If
someone walking along and stumbles and falls, he didn't plan it.
It came without his knowledge. And I'll tell you, that's when
Faith is really pride. It's when something comes you
totally didn't expect it, but it's just that. You know, you
know what I'm talking about. We can get involved. You see,
a lot of times we can get our theology all straight and just
like if we can plan ahead, if we can sort of see things developing
and things occurring and things taking place, Somebody tells
us, well, your job's going to give out in thirty days. We've
got thirty days to get ready for that job. But when suddenly
the trial comes, unexpected, unanticipated, totally out of
the blue, that's when we cast upon you. That's when true faith
is really revealed, when you fall into this trial. Didn't
expect it. Didn't know it was on the horizon.
But there it is. All right. Knowing this, that
the trying of your faith worketh patience. Now, there's a word
here I want to work on just a moment, the word patience. The word patience. Now, it's here in two verses.
Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. but let patience have her perfect
work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing."
What does the word patience mean here? Many of you have these
strong concordances. Let me help you a little bit
here. This is what I do. I don't speak Greek and I don't
read Greek, but I do have a strong concordance and I can look up
a Greek word that's used in the Scripture. a number of times. The patience here means—this
is the meaning of this word, patience—it means endurance, endurance. It means constancy,
holding the road. It means forbearing. It means
waiting for the blessed hope. This is the patience he's talking
about. So he says here in verse three, this trying of your faith
makes you persevere. This trying of your faith makes
you continue in the faith. This trying of your faith sets
your affections on things above, not on the things of this earth.
This trying of your faith is for, not for the moment, but
for the long haul. That's right. That's what we're
talking about here. We're not talking about just this present
moment. We're talking about the whole
trip, like we were talking about this morning. If you call God
Father, you've passed the whole time of your sojourning here
looking to Him in reverence and fear. And that's what this is
talking about, these trials, these trials. All these trials
and troubles and tests and experiences are sent to make us like Christ. That's our ultimate goal, to
be with Him. That's right. I don't care for
that term, well, I got saved. We are being saved. We have been saved, we're being
saved, and our salvation is nearer than what we believe. And all
these things that take place in our lives are to make us like
Christ. I've given you this illustration,
and my son Paul may have given it to you too, but I'm going
to repeat it anyway. It doesn't hurt to repeat an
illustration, does it? I was preaching in North Carolina.
It's Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, years ago. And a little boy went
home from the service and told his daddy, he said, I like that
preacher. And his daddy said, why do you like that preacher?
Well, he said, and I use a lot of illustrations a lot of times,
you know, in a message. He said, because he'll preach
a while, and then he'll tell you something. And then he'll
preach a while, and then he'll tell you something. And that's
illustrations. Anyway, I heard this years ago,
and I'll repeat it, because it fits in right here. All of these
things that are happening are not just for the moment. He had
to make us like him. He goes this whole journey, you
know, this whole journey. Well, there was a fellow, a traveling
sailor going through Arkansas, and he stopped in this little
country store, and he was selling his goods, you know, to the papyrus,
and he went over there and he saw on the shelf there were some
carvings, wood carvings, a fellow carved with a knife. of hound
dogs, just a bunch of wooden hound dogs on a shelf. He said,
let me see one of those. The proprietor handed him one
of them. He looked at it, and he said, that is great work.
That looks just like an old hound dog, just exactly like an old
hound dog. He said, who did that? And the
owner of the store said, see that old fellow over there by
the stove? He said, he did it. He's working on one man. So this
salesman took that out, went over there, He said, over there,
old man, watch him eat. He carved him with that knife,
piece of wood. And he watched him, and he said,
hey, sir, he said, did you carve this? He said, yes, I did. He
said, well, how do you do it? How do you carve this hound dog?
Old man looked up at him, he looked at his knife, he looked
at his block of wood. Oh, he said, I don't know. He
said, I reckon I just cut off everything that don't look like
a hound dog. That's what the Lord's doing
for us, taking off all the things that don't look like Christ.
That's right. He's cut it. He's hurt it. And that's what He's talking
about. Verse four says that, "...patience,
have a perfect work, that you may be perfect." And entire wanting,
that's it, just like Christ. That's what He's talking about.
Now then, here's something important about this. Now, if any of you
like wisdom, understanding, grace, if you walk this way, if you
and I like understanding, these things I've been saying are so,
this is the way to go. But now you say, I just don't
have that kind of grace to face things this way, and I don't
have that kind of wisdom, you know. I just don't have that
strength and faith." Well, listen, if any of you lack wisdom, understanding,
ask God. Ask for it. Give me grace. Give me strength. Give me wisdom. Give me courage. Strengthen my
heart. You know, the Scripture says,
we have not because we ask not. Ask Him. Lord, I'm weak, I'm
frail, I'm, I get defeated, I get in trouble. Ask Him. Ask Him
for what? But now listen, He'd give it
liberally. He won't scold you. He won't
say, well, you messed it up last time. No, He won't upbraid you.
He won't mention the past. He'll be giving you. You want
strength and grace and faith and courage? Ask Him. He'll give
it to you. Yeah, He will. He won't scold
you. He won't bring up the past. He
won't upbraid you. He won't scold you for your failures.
But look at verse six. Believe in asking faith. Believe
in God. Believing that strength comes
from God, grace comes from God, faith comes from God, all good
things come from God. And don't waver. Don't waver. Nothing wavers. I want His will or my will. Like
I was talking about this morning, this thing of walking with God
and the grace of God and the faith of Christ is not something
A fella puts on one day out of seven, and I'm so grateful. And, Lord, I'm yours. Do with
me what you will. I would like to have this, but
now that I will be done, and I'm not waiting, this is what
I want. I want your will, your way, and
your grace. You give me the grace and the strength. Not waver. He's a waverer, you know. What
is a waver to see? Well, one time it's up, one time
it's down. Next time it's up, next time it's down. Now, that
man, he said, it's like a wave of the sea, and don't let that
man think he'll receive anything at all. I'm confident in Him. I'm faithful. I'm committed. I want Thy will
be done. Give me the grace. Give me the
strength. All right, let's read this right
here. Let's read it, and I'll let you go. Let not that man
think he'll receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded
man is unstable in all his ways. Now, let the brother of low degree—that
doesn't mean a brother of low rank. All brothers are the same. Let the brother of low degree,
a brother that does not recognize his some great person and let
him rejoice in that he's exalted. He has true riches, true glory,
true relationship with God. He's been brought up. But the
rich man, the fellow that's really in this world, something, let
him rejoice in that he's made low. He's been brought down. He recognizes he is nothing by
nature. whatever he has is by the grace
of God, because as the flower of the grass, he'll pass away.
For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withers
the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the
passion of it perisheth, perisheth. So also shall the rich man faith
in all his ways. So blessed is that man. who endures
triumph, who stands up on the triumph, that man, that woman,
for when he's triumphant, he shall receive the crown of life
which the Lord has promised to them that love him. I want to
read one verse before we disappear. Over here in Job chapter twenty-three. Job chapter twenty-three. This
is a verse of Brother Scott Richardson. He said, What he told me was,
told our people, and a message was the verse that helped him
a great deal in his recent trial.

Standing In Time Of Trial

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Standing In Time Of Trial

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