If you will, open your Bibles
with me to 1st Peter, chapter 1. 1st Peter, chapter 1. And while you're turning, let
me mention that Steve Vinson had open heart surgery last night
down in Cookville. Went through the emergency room.
Had triple bypass. One artery was 99% closed. Doctor said, no, he's still walking. But he's doing fine. I mean,
it went well. That's a great blessing. And
Kim and Jacqueline's down there. And boy, I tell you, that's a
thing that the Lord, you know, that the Lord blesses these doctors
to be able to do for you is amazing. But hopefully that he'll be up
and around and very thankful that the Lord had mercy not only
on him, but his family and on us. Because it could have certainly
been a lot different, couldn't it? All right, I'm going to read
the first nine verses of here 1st Peter chapter 1 in verse
9. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. grace unto you,
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to His abundant mercy,
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, or a living hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved
in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, if it is
necessary, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations,
that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than
of gold, that be tried with fire might be found under praise,
honor, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom, having
not seen, ye loved, and whom, though now ye seem not yet believing,
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter
1 In 1 Peter chapter 1, in verse
6 and 7, where the apostle says here, he's writing to God's people,
the Lord's people, those that's been blessed of God, those that
know God, and he says, We're in you greatly rejoice, though
now for a season, if need be, if it's necessary, if God sees
that it's necessary, if need be, if it's necessary for you,
if it need be, You are in heaviness. You've got this heaviness of
heart, heaviness of soul, heaviness of mind, through a multitude
of temptations, through being tried, that the trial of your
faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found under praise,
honor, and glory at the appearing, when our Lord Jesus Christ appears.
I want to talk this morning if I may for a while on the trial
of your faith. James says the trial of your
faith is precious for in it you receive your patience. But our
Lord asked the question to that blind man that he gave sight
to down in the last part of John chapter 9 and he says doest thou
believe on the Son of God? Doest thou believe on the Son
of God? And the man says Lord, who is it that I might believe?
And he said, I that speak unto thee am he. And that's what I
ask you this morning. I ask that question. Do you believe
on the Son of God? The Son of God, God, the Son
that came into this world. I'm not asking, I'm not asking
people this morning if they are a professing Christian. I'm not
asking that question. I'm not asking are you a student
of the scriptures? I'm not asking what your position
on Calvinism or Arminianism is. Do you believe on the Son of
God, Jesus Christ? Do you believe? Now when I talk
about Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, the Son of God, I'm
not talking about just an historical figure named Jesus. I'm not talking about a moral
reformer who came here to reform people. I'm not talking about
one who people say he's a great prophet or even as a martyr.
But do you in your heart, and I ask myself this question, do
you in your heart, in your very soul, believe on Jesus Christ? Do you have a saving interest
in the Lord Jesus Christ, a saving interest in Him? I know that
wherever saving faith is, I know this without a doubt, that wherever
saving faith is and the Lord Jesus Christ is found, it's a
token. It's a token of God's favor,
of God's blessing, of God's blessed grace. It's not an evidence of
a soul winner. Somebody didn't win your soul
or the power of some preacher. It's an evident token. of God's
blessed grace, of God's favor towards you, not the evidence
of a soul winner or some preacher who has some great power. And
I'll tell you what, if we're ever saving faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ is found, it's not the evidence of a great church,
a great church that brings all these people into Christ. And
it's not a token of your intelligence. that you are, have saving faith
or saving interest. It's not a token of your intelligence. You're smarter than somebody
else. And that's what some people actually believe. They believe
that if you believe in the free and sovereign grace of God, that
you are just smarter than other people. And if you could just
convince them intellectually, they'd be as smart as you are.
But it's not, it's not a token of your intelligence or of your
mother's prayers or your mother's prayers. It's a token of God's
favor, token of God's grace. It's a gift. It's a gift of God. That's what faith is. All saving
faith is a gift of God. And everything, everything that's
spiritual comes from God. Everything. Everything we have
that's anything that's spiritual, it comes from God. The love comes
from God. Mercy comes from God. Grace comes
from God. They asked our Lord Jesus Christ
to ask His disciples one day, ìWho do men say that I am?î They
said, ìWell, some say that youíre Jeremiah, some say youíre Elijah,
or one of the prophets.î He said, ìWho do you say I am?î Simon
Peter answered, ìThou art the Christ.î the Son of the Living
God. And he says, you know Simon,
you know how blessed you are? He said, that's not natural to
you. That's not natural to any man.
You know how blessed you are? My Father in heaven blessed you
to see that, to know that, and believe that. and you see, he
talked about faith in a person. He says, I believe thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. It's faith in a person and
we're saving faith is found. It's a mark of being one of God's
elect. Peter says, you know, excuse
me, Titus chapter 1 says this is a Those that are elect, they
believe the truth and have a knowledge that others, you know, that God
gives them. And if you believe in the Son
of God, it's evidence of your election. Now, let me say something
about that. We're not chosen because we believe. We believe because we're chosen. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, what did they do? They believed. Believing is not
what makes you elect. Because you're elect, that's
why you believe. Now, how do you say, how do I
know I'm one of God's elect? Do you believe? That's how you know. I'd like
to know if I'm one of God's elect. Do you believe on the Son of
God with your heart and with your soul? And oh, beloved, Where
saving faith is found is the evidence of spiritual life. There
can't be faith without having life. And the life is what causes
the faith to be made manifest. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He says
this, He says, This is the record that God hath given to us, eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. And he that hath the Son
hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. And our Lord, it says this about
him, as many as received him, to them, to them gave he the
power to become the sons of God, which were born, not of blood,
nor the will of flesh, nor the will of man, but were born of
God, born of God. And where there's faith, there's
life. And a man knows whether he's
got life or not. And we're saving faith Where
saving faith is, we're talking about these tokens of saving
faith. Where saving faith is, there
is obedience to God. You believe God, you obey God.
Paul wrote to the Romans and he says, hearing of your faith
and obedience, faith and obedience. When men who know God, obey God. Men who love Christ, obey Christ. And it says by faith, without
faith it's impossible to please God. And Noah being warned of
things not seen as yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark
to the saving of his house. Abraham when he was called to
go out, he went out not knowing where he was going. So there's,
where there's faith, there's life and obedience. And wherever
you find faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll find a faithful
witness. And wherever there's faith in
Christ, you'll be a faithful witness. You'll find a faithful
witness. Davis said it like this, and Paul repeated the same thing.
As I have believed, therefore have I spoken. Whatever a man
believes, that's what he's going to preach. Whatever a man believes,
that's what he's going to tell other people, if he ever gets
an opportunity. That's why Paul said, therefore,
it is written, therefore I have believed, therefore have I spoken,
using plain speech. And what a man believes, that's
what he tells. Men preach what they believe.
They really do preach what they believe. and that's why the apostle
says we're not ashamed of the gospel we're not ashamed of it
and beloved if you have true genuine saving faith if you believe
on the son of god you're highly highly highly favorite of god
you know what psalm 65 and 4 says blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and then you know what else it says and causes to approach
unto thee, that he may dwell in thy tabernacle. Now you can't
be more blessed of God than that, to be chosen and then be caused
to approach him, to approach him. Oh my, there's faith blessings
is to be justified, is to be able to approach a holy God,
to be accepted of God. And one of these days will reign
with the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. Now I said all that to
talk about what genuine faith is. Now let's talk about the
trial of this faith. Ain't that what he says there
in verse 6 and 7? Wherefore wherein you greatly
rejoice, though now for a season If it's necessary, you're in
heaviness through all these trials and temptations, that the trial
of your faith, your faith is much more precious than of gold
that perishes. Though it be tried with fire,
it might be found under praise, honor, and glory at the Lord
Jesus Christ. And James talked about, you know,
what counted joy when you're tried. And I tell you, here's
the thing, I don't want to talk about the blessings, but the
trial of faith. Now I'll tell you this, you can't have faith
without it being tried. You can't do it. Faith in trial
cannot be separated. Can't be separated. And let me
tell you something about this, beloved. Trials, and I've said
this so many times over the years, trials does not produce faith. God does not use trials to produce
faith. What trials do is reveals faith,
reveals it. When a man crumbles, when God
sends a trial, and a man crumbles under God's trial, it proves
he never had true faith, proves he never had it. If the man crumbles
and walks away, That proves that he never had this faith that
I'm talking about. He says, they went out from us.
Why did they go out from us, John? Because they were not of
us. For if they no doubt have been
of us, they would have continued with us, but they went out from
us because they weren't of us. And beloved, that's like a seed
on that stony ground. It falls and it brings forth
fruit immediately. But then because when the sun
arises in persecution because of the word and trials come,
that seed just withers away and dies. It withers away. And I tell you, men don't receive
life by enduring trials, but they
endure trials because they have life. You don't get life by going
through trials. You endure trials and go through
trials if it's necessary to prove your faith, to prove that it's
real, to prove that it's genuine, to prove that it's better than
any gold that you could ever have in this world because you
have life. Oh, that's what Simon Peter's
talking about here. You take two people, two people
in the same church, same group of believers. They profess to
believe the same. They profess to love Christ.
They profess to be saved by God's grace. And God, in His sovereign
mercy, because if it's necessary, He sends both of them a trial.
And both of them are tried. One is strengthened under the
trial. One perseveres under the trial. makes stronger and shows
a dedication to God in Christ. He has his perseverance and his
purpose. He shows a dedication to God
in his perseverance. But the other one, he comes along
and he's tried and he crumbles, he falls, he quits the gospel. And people say, well, that trial
turned him against God. No, it didn't. No, trials don't
turn a person against God. No, no. If they're of God, that
trial they said turned him against God. No, it didn't. He is already
against God. The trial just proved it. That's
all, just proved it. Proved he was an unbeliever to
start with. And I've told you that if you
ever, if I ever leave, if I ever walk away from the gospel, you
mark it down. I never was a real believer in
the start, in the start. If I walk away from it after
all these years, if I walk away from it, just mark it down. But
oh my, trials reveal faith, it don't produce it. And here someone
ask you two questions here in this verse of scripture. Two
questions, whose faith is tried? Whose faith is tried? And how
is faith tried? Well, look what he says there
in verse seven, that the trial of your faith, your faith, your
faith, not somebody else's, yours, your faith. Oh, whose faith is
tried? Yours. God only had one son without
sin, but he has none who are without trial. None without trial. God, the scripture says that
though he were a son, yet he learned obedience by his suffering.
He only had one son without sin, but not one without trial. And
people say, well, I'm nobody. I'm nothing. Why would God single
me out for trial? Why would God, I'm nobody, I'm
nothing, I don't amount to anything. Why is God single me out for
trial? Well, God's going to try your faith no matter who you
are. No matter who you are. And here's
the thing, God will try the reality of your faith. God will try the
reality of it. Trial reveals the real thing. That's what he says, though they
be tried with fire. You know how gold is purified?
They burn it. They burn it. They set it under
on fire. And they pour the dross out of
it. And they say, well, this is pure gold. Well, that's what
a trial produces. It produces, it shows you the
real thing. When God tries a man and he tries
it like gold, the trial shows that this is the real thing here. This is the real faith. Even
though the trial is by fire. And that's why Peter says, you
know, think it not strange concerning the fire trial, which is to try
you. But God tries it by fire, and you know why? To burn out
the wood, to burn out the hay, to burn out the stubble, to burn
out the dross, to burn out the sham that we all put on. All the things that we put on.
And you know what? When God puts this thing through
the trial, all that'll be left is the gold. That's all that'll
be left. All that'll be left is what God
put there. God put there. Now you keep this,
and look over here in Matthew 7 with me. Let's look in Matthew
7. This is what's going on. This is what's happening when
God tries a man. Matthew 7 and verse 24. Matthew 7, 24. Our Lord says,
Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon
a rock. And the rain descended, and the
floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and
it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be
likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand.
And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall
of it." Now, here's two men. They're both going to build a
house, a place where they're going to feel secure, a place
where they're going to feel comfortable, a place where they're going to
say, this is home. I feel right here. This is home,
sweet home. So they're building houses. And
three things happen. of God. And floods come from beneath.
Rain comes from above. And so there's trials from above
and trials from the earth. And then the winds blew. Mysterious,
unaccountable. And that's how trials come. The
house on the sand, what happened to it? It fell. What happened
to that one built on the rock? It stood. Had exactly the same
things happen to both of them. One stood, one fell. And so it's
the way it is when trials come. Trials prove whether we're going
to stand or fall. Whether our house is on the rock
or whether it's on the sand. another thing back over here
in our text, trial proves the sincerity of your faith, not
only the reality of it but the sincerity of it. Sincerity of
it. You know we say and I sing it
oftentimes at the end of a service, there is a name I love to hear,
I love to proclaim its worth, oh how I love Jesus, oh how I
love Jesus. We're saying that song and then
the trial comes. Abraham, take your son, take
your only son, go up on that mountain and there make him an
offering. Well, I thought I loved Jesus
until that happened. But I tell you, beloved, aren't
you glad that God tries our faith? Aren't you glad that He does
it? That if it's necessary, I want to find out before I face God
in eternity whether my faith is real or not. and whether it's
sincere or not. I want to find out. Now, I'm
not glad in the trial. Nobody's glad in the trial while
it's going on. But we're glad for the trials.
Because if we're not never tried, you know what would happen to
us if God didn't try us? We'd get fat, we'd get lazy,
we'd get presumptuous. Oh, listen. So trial proves the
sincerity of your faith. Is your faith real? Is your faith
right? Is your faith sincere? I'll tell
you, John Newton said this, and I believe I've told you before.
He said, it takes as much grace when you've got the finest china,
it takes as much grace for you to see a china cup broken as
to lose somebody. You know why? Because both of
them seem precious to you. But how are you going to react
to them? That's the thing about it, the sincerity of it. then
not only that the reality of it and the sincerity of it but
trials prove the purity the purity of your faith ain't that what
he says that your trial of your faith being much more precious
than of gold that perishes though god tries it like fire like he
does gold trial proves the sincerity of your faith job everybody knows
what job went through He lost everything just in one day, just
one right after another. And you know what he said? He
says, the hand of God had touched me. The hand of God had touched
me. He said, you all say this happened,
that happened, another thing happened. He said, but the hand
of God had touched me. And you know what he says when
he lost everything he had? The scripture says that he shaved
his head and fell on the ground before God and said, Blessed
be the Lord. The Lord hath given and the Lord
hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. And then another time they got
on to him, and those who were trying his faith, and you know
what he says? The root of the matter's in me! The root of the
matter's in me! The root of the matter of what?
The root of the matter of faith! Believing on the Son of God!
Casting my lot with Him! Persuaded that whatsoever we
committed unto Him, He's able to keep it against that day!
Huh? Oh, and Job said this, he says,
Though He slay me, What am I going to do? I'm going to start crying
like a baby. Though He slay me, I'm going
to trust Him. Lay me down on my back, I'm going
to trust Him. And you know what He said when
He got to the end? He said, I know, I know my Redeemer
lives and I shall see Him for myself with these eyes and not
somebody else. I'm going to see Him. I'm going
to see Him. Oh, bless his holy name. One
of these days we're going to see him because he lives. He lives. He didn't live. He lives. And one of these days,
I�m going to see him, and you�re going to see him. I�ll see him
by faith, but that�s another thing. Faith sees things that
nobody else can see. Oh, Jonathan, I was listening
to a message the other day by a fellow, and I hope I get to
preach it one of these days, but Jonathan was going to go,
him and just his armor bearer went among 30,000 Philistines,
and he says, the Lord can save by many or by few. And he went
in there, him and his armor bearing, and slew a bunch of them. He
said, you know why? Because the Lord, He don't need
a whole lot to do anything. He had this high view of God.
And oh, so He'll try the reality of your faith, the sincerity
of your faith, the purity of your faith. Though He slay me,
I'm going to trust Him. And then God will try the perseverance
of your faith. The perseverance. You know, I
love perseverance. I love the thought of perseverance.
He that endureth unto the end. The same should be said. It's
through much tribulation that we must enter into the Kingdom
of God. And when I'm talking about proving the perseverance
of your faith, God doesn't stop trying us when we get old. People
think, well, one of these days these trials will be over, we'll
get old and God will try us and then he'll just quit. He'll say, well, they're okay
now, they've made it this far, so I'll just let things alone.
That's not the way it works. Abraham was an old man, old man,
when he was called to go out. He was a lot older when he was
told take his son up on the mountain. He was an old man when he faced
the sorest trial he ever had. I've asked a lot of older folks,
I've asked a lot of people down through the years, especially
when I was younger myself, I asked them, and I asked Scott years
ago, I said, does it get any easier, Scott? Does the burden
ever get any lighter? And you know what he said? He
says, the more people you know, the more people you have in your
family, and the longer you go, the harder the trials become. because you've got more people
involved in your life and every one of those people has an effect
on you and what you think about them and what you go through
because of them. And oh, John was exiled to the
Isle of Patmos when he was in his 90s, exiled when he was in
his 90s. Paul the aged, that's what he
called himself, Paul the aged was put in prison, put in prison. And God's gonna prove your faith
No matter how old you are, how many trials you've already been
through, God's gonna approve your faith if it's real or not.
You go, oh, Henry Mahan, up in his 90s now. How many things
you've been through? And you know what he goes through
now? Two things. I tell you, he can't hear a word
anybody says. Can't enter into a conversation.
If you try to talk to him, he just looks at you. Can't hear
a word you say. You can holler all you want, and he can't hear
you. And the second thing is, he wants to go so bad, but he's
got to wait till God's time. And every day, he said, boy,
today will be the day. But it wasn't the day. It wasn't
the day. That's two great things. How would you like to be here
and not be able to hear a word that anybody says? That'd be
awful, wouldn't it? That'd be awful. But I tell you
what voice he can hear, he can still hear the voice of Christ.
And Christ's gonna call him one of these days. Christ's gonna
call him. So your faith, your faith is whose faith is tried,
your faith is. Well, how is your faith tried?
How is your faith tried? Well, I do know this, that trial
doesn't come to all men the same way. There's no set way, no pattern
for God, how God tries a person. But I'll give you just a few
things of how God tries us. First thing He tries us by is
His Word. By His Word. Just like I'm using
this morning. The Word. He tries us by His
Word. If there's no light in them,
it's because they have not the Word. That's what the Scripture
says. And I think this, the Word of
God, is the test of all tests. Faith comes. You don't go get
it. You don't go get it. You ain't
got someplace to go get it. Faith comes. Faith comes. It comes to where you are. It
comes to you. If it's a trial of your faith,
it comes to you. And this faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God. And here's the thing about true
faith, where faith is it, true faith bows to the Word of God,
true faith submits to, true faith honors, true faith glories, true
faith obeys, true faith believes, true faith receives, true faith
respects, and true faith defends the literal Word of God. I mean
we bow to it. Ethel used to say, she's sitting
right there by Hermes, she used to sit there and prop her feet
against the back of the pew. And I don't know how many times
she's told me. I couldn't tell you the times
she told me over the years. She says, I know so little about
the Bible, and a lot of it, most of it I don't understand, but
there's not any of it that I don't believe. There's not any of it
that I don't believe. And that's the way with me. I
tell you, we talk about it all the time. I thought when I was
young, boy, I could just quote them scriptures and everything.
Now I'm more interested in what they have to say. I want to get
to the meaning of it. And I tell you, beloved, that's
why we search these scriptures because they tell us about Christ.
And oh my, and I'll tell you this, when you put a question
mark, you find somebody that puts a question mark on any part
of this book and say, I don't know if that's true or not. I
don't know if that's real or not. I don't know if that happened
or not. I don't believe that that's supernatural. I don't
believe that could have happened. I don't believe Jonah could have
been swallowed by a whale. I don't believe an army could
have been drowned in the Red Sea. I don't believe that God
parted the Red Sea and them people walked across on dry land, two
million of them. I believe it actually happened. I believe that Jonah swallowed
it. You know what he learned when
he was there? And he was tried just like we're
tried. When God tried Jonah, you know
what he said? Salvation's of the Lord. If I
get out of here, God's gotta do it. Oh my. And I'll tell you, when
you put a question mark on part of the scriptures, God's showing
you that you don't have faith. And like I said, an awful lot
I don't know, but there's not any of it that I don't believe.
If I read it in there, I'm going to say that's what the Lord said. That's what the Lord said. And
I tell you what, faith tried by the Word of God, then He tries
it by the wisdom of men. What do I mean by the wisdom
of men? Men come to you with their human reasoning. their
human reasoning. And human reasoning says that
man evolved. Human reasoning would rather
have science than faith. Human reasoning would have something
that you could see instead of something to believe. You know,
human reasoning wants a golden calf. They don't want God up
on a mountain. Human reasoning wants somebody
to assure them all the time that they're believers. and wants
to all the time keep people pumped up, and they use logic. But our
Lord Jesus Christ said in the last days, false prophets would
arise, false Christs would arise, and they would do signs and wonders,
insomuch that if it were possible, if it were possible, they'd deceive
the very elect. But it has been possible. That's
why he said, if it were possible, if it were possible. And I tell
you, people come along with all their logic and their ability,
and their reasoning and say, that just can't be true. That
just can't be true. Faith has nothing to do with
human reasoning. Nothing. Nothing whatsoever.
My man's wisdom. Our faith doesn't stand in the
wisdom of man. It stands in God's power. And
here's another thing that God tries us. How's our faith tried? He tries us by anger. Anger sometimes. Not ours, somebody else's. Somebody
getting angry with us. Somebody getting angered at us.
And the persecution of the flesh. Even by those we love. That's
what our Lord said. Don't think that I come to bring
peace. But I come to bring a sword to
set at division. To set at variance. Mother against
daughter. And daughter against mother.
Father against son. He comes to set families against
one another. Oh, even those that are dear
to us. I tell you like I did our Lord, one day they're crying,
Hosanna, Hosanna, blessed be He that cometh in the name of
the Lord. The next day they're crying out, crucify Him, crucify
Him, crucify Him. Look what our Lord said over
here in Matthew 10. Family members who don't know the Lord Jesus
Christ, they can sure, sure make it hard on you. Sure make it
hard on you. Won't you stay home with me today?
family members who don't know or love the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you know, folks say, well, I had company. I couldn't come.
Don't anybody's company ever go to church? You think people don't have company
that go to meeting? You know, either you go to the
meeting with me or you go stay home by yourself. Because I'm going
to go to the meeting. If it's Wednesday night, I'm
going to go. If it's Sunday morning, I'm going to go. And you say,
well, you're the preacher. I believe I'd do it if I wasn't.
I think I would. I hope I would. But look what
our Lord said here in Matthew 1034. Think not that I am come
to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but
a sword. For I'm come to set a man at
variance against his father. and the daughter against her
mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And
listen to this, and a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of
me. You know that old saying, blood
is thicker than water? That's the truth. When one family
member gets upset and wants to quit or something, the whole
family will go with them. Now ain't that right? Have you
ever seen that happen? When one gets hurt, they all get hurt. One gets mad, they all get mad.
One gets angry, they all get angry. One wants to leave, they
all got to leave. And that's what our Lord said.
He said, You mean you're going to let your mother, you're going
to let your mother stand between Me and your eternal soul and
your love of Christ and your love of the Gospel? You mean
you're going to let your father, your father who don't know Me
and don't care for Me and don't love Me and despises Me, you
mean to tell Me you're going to let your father? keep you
from having a relationship with me? Keep you from knowing me? Keep you from trusting me? You'd
rather have a relationship with your dad than me? And that's
what he's saying. That's exactly what he said.
Who? Well, you mean to tell me that you would love, you'd let
anybody that's not a believer, anybody that don't know Christ,
keep you from trusting me? That's what he's saying. That's
what he said. And that old saying, blood is
thicker than water, it happens. And I tell you, I got to move
on here, I do, I know. I'll turn the air conditioning
down a minute here. But then not only we tried by anger and
persecution of our flesh, and we've done it ourselves, we've
done it ourselves. Trials by afflictions. Trials
by great affliction. And what do I mean by affliction?
By pain. By pain. By sickness. By sickness. By some disease that's going
to be found in our body. Some disease that the doctor
says there ain't nothing I can do. Nothing I can do. When your heart is weak and your
heart is just not gonna make it anymore and you're tried by
troubles, troubles, you know, like Job. They get up one day
and this happens and that happens and another thing happens. Oh,
but I tell you, bless his holy name. I don't care what it is,
pain, sickness, death, cancer, heart troubles, whatever God
sends our way. If he sends a storm and it lasts
day after day after day, everything is sent by the will of God. Everything. I believe that with all my heart.
Everything's sent by the will of God. Nothing happens to any
believer except by the will of God. everything's sent by the will
of God, not by the devil. They say the devil's doing that.
If God couldn't keep the devil from afflicting you, then what
you need to do is worship the devil, because he's gonna win
anyway. You know what David said? Before
I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep thy word. And he said, it's good for me
that I've been afflicted, that I might learn thy stature. It's
good for me. It's good for me. There's lots
of things all of us here, lots of things all of us here don't
want to face. A lot of things I don't want
to face. I don't. There's a lot of things. I'll
be honest with you, you know. What God sends will be, you know,
that's the way it'll be. A lot of things I don't want
to have to face. But if I do, I must believe they
are the will of God. I must believe that. And they
say, that's a fatalist. No, I'm not a fatalist. I'm a
believer. I believe that God does these things. And I look,
let me try to show you another. Proverbs 30. Proverbs 30. Sometimes God tries us by poverty,
sometimes by prosperity. He tries us by poverty
and sometimes by prosperity. Ecclesiastes, Proverbs 30, verse
7 and 8. Sometimes he tries us by poverty,
sometimes he tries us by prosperity. And Old Spurgeon says he's seen
more people fall by prosperity than ever by poverty. More people
fall by prosperity than they do by poverty. Look what he said
here in Proverbs 30 in verse 7. Two things have I required
of thee. Deny me not, withhold not from
me then before I die. remove far from me vanity remove
far from me vanity and lies listen to this give me neither poverty
nor riches feed me with food convenient for me give me what
you want me to have lest i be full and i deny you and say who
is the lord i've got everything i want or lest i be poor and
still and take the name of my god in vain Oh, poverty and riches. Because a man is poor, doesn't
mean he's under the curse of God. Lazarus lay at the rich
man's gate and the dogs licked his sword. Who went to glory
and who went to hell? And because a man is prosperous,
that don't mean he's under the blessings of God. That rich fool
said, take your knees, eat, drink and marry. You got more than
you can do with for the rest of your life. And then God tries
men with change. I know I've taken too long, but
I've got to get through this. I want to get through it. God
tries men with change. And what do I mean by change?
He changes things in your life. He'll change your situation,
change your situation, the places where you're at, change your
position, where you work, what you do. May take you up, may
take you down. May take you in his place and
then turn around and take you right back out. He may change
your health. Your health may change. And He
changes situation. If God takes your husband, if
God takes your husband or your wife, would you quit God? Would
you quit? When change comes, are we going
to get angry and miserable? Are we going to suck? Get a martyr's
complex? Get our feelings hurt? And our
old selfish ego takes over? And then turn around and make
everybody miserable? Or are we going to rejoice in
the Lord? Oh, God will try us with change. And anybody, anybody
can have faith when everything goes their way, everything goes
their way. But it takes real faith, real
faith to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be a learner
of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be alone with God. And he's the
only one that you can come to and the only one that you trust.
God brings these things. for their trials. And they're
tough. They're tough. I'm not saying
they aren't. I mean, you know what Steve is
going through this morning, the pain he's enduring right now.
And Kim and the kids, you imagine how they feel right now. But
I tell you, it's good for me to be tried. And it's good for
us to be tried, to find out if I'm a hypocrite, or I'm a sham,
or if I'm a put-on. To find out if my faith is real.
People say, well, I'm here for the glory of God. But when God
tries you, where's the glory of God? When your interest is
at stake. And a change is going to come. It's coming. It'll come. God will change our
lives that quick. Scott Richardson said, God can
choke us to death on our own spirit. Now, how many times have
you strangled on your own spirit? That's how easy it is. That's
how easy it is. And this is my last point. We're
going to be tried by death. We're going to be tried by death.
Not only ours, not only ours, not only ours, but those that
we love, those that we love. Why do you talk about this so
much? Talk about something else, something more pleasant than
dying. No, no. How many of you all, when you
prepare to, when you're going somewhere, every single one of
you prepare to go? You pack your clothes, you pack
your suitcase, you get your map, you decide where you're going,
how you're going to get there, how long it'll take you to get
there. You'll prepare your clothes, you'll see where you're going
to eat, you'll prepare food. Wherever anybody's going to go
someplace, they prepare. Is that not right? They prepare. And I tell you what, we're all
going someplace to our long home. And if you prepare for a trip
down here that's going to go to this place and that place
and come back, and you prepare for it, what route you're going
to take, how long it's going to take you to get there, how
long it's going to take you to get back. Everybody prepares for
a trip. Well, we need to prepare to go
to our long haul. That's, you're talking about
preparing. That's what we need to prepare. And more these days,
God's going to say, I'm coming, I'm going to come get your mommy.
I'm going to come get your mommy, that mommy you love so much.
I'm going to come get her. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Can
we say that? Oh, one of these days I'm going
to come get your wife. I'm going to come get your wife.
That wife of your youth. That wife that your heart was
so wrapped up in and enjoyed so much. I'm gonna come get your
wife. I'm gonna come take your husband
away from you, and you're gonna be left on your own. I'm gonna
come get you, but I'm gonna lay on your back for a year. I'm
gonna let you have to go to doctors, and I'm gonna let your body get
so frail, and I'm gonna let it get so weak. I'm gonna let your
hearing go, and I'm gonna let your body get so frail and so
weak. I'm gonna come get you. Can we
say even so come Lord Jesus? Can we handle it? Can we handle
it? Do we have the faith? We've seen lots that don't. We've
seen lots that don't. Next time God trials your faith,
will you be the one to leave? Will I be the next? Will the
next trial that God sends me be the end of me? Will the next
trial God sends you be the end of you? Huh? Let me close with
Hebrews. Hebrews right to your left. Hebrews
3. Let me close with this. Oh Lord,
have mercy on us. Give us that faith. Give us that
faith. Hebrews 3.17 But with whom was
he grieved forty years? God talking about whom. Whom
was God grieved with forty years? Was it with not them that had
sinned, whose carcasses fell in the wilderness? And to whom
swear he that they should not enter into his rest? Who wasn't
going to enter? But to them that believed not. So we see that they could not
enter in because of unbelief. trembling at the truth of how
frail that I am, how weak, how unable to have anything or do
anything without you. Oh Lord, keep us by your power,
keep us by your grace, keep us believing, keep us cleaving to
our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh Lord, to whom shall we go?
To whom shall we go? And Lord, we come to you. I bring
myself and I bring this body of believers. I bring ourselves
to you. Keep us, oh Lord. Keep us, keep
us, keep us, keep us. Oh God, keep us for Christ's
sake. Amen.