I have an unusual message today, and I can't tell you how it spoke
to me, and I pray the Lord will be pleased
to cause it to speak to you. But there in verse 10 it says
this, 2 Corinthians 12.10, Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities. We can't even take pleasure in
inconveniences, in reproaches. Who in the world
would ever reproach us with the finest folks that ever lived? In necessities, oh my, we certainly
can't do without. In persecutions, we ain't done
nothing to make anybody mad to us. in distresses for Christ's
sake. But this is what I want to talk
about. For when I am weak, then am I strong. Here's a statement made by an
apostle that when you read it, first
read it, it doesn't seem to make any sense at all. When I am weak, then am I strong. When you're the weakest, when
you're weak, no strength whatsoever, then you're strong. That don't
even make sense. Does it? Have no strength whatsoever,
and then that's the strongest you are. What he is saying is, the weaker
I am, the stronger I am. How can this be? Well, let's go down through these
verses a little bit and talk about them and then get to our
text. Paul said, it's not expedient for me, doubtless, to glory.
It's not proper for me to glory. He said, but I'll tell you what
I will talk about. I'll talk about the visions and revelations
that the Lord give me. And I knew a man in Christ fourteen
years ago. Whether he was in his body or
whether he was out of the body, he did not know that. But he
was caught up under the third heaven. And he said, I knew this
man. This is the man that he's talking
about, glory in him. And he said, I was, to verse
four, he said, I was caught up in the paradise. You know, our
Lord says to told that thief today, shalt thou be with me
in paradise. And so wherever that thief was,
wherever Christ was, this is where Paul was taken to. He said,
I was caught up in the paradise, whether I was in my body or out,
I don't know. I don't know. And he said, And I, when I was
there, I heard unspeakable words. Now, what does he mean unspeakable?
Well, he's seen words and heard Christ speak and had revelations
from the Lord Jesus, which is not lawful for me to utter. And
that tells us these people that have these deathbed experiences
and come back and tell you what all they've seen and heard is
no such thing. Paul was caught up in the glory
itself and came back and said, I cannot begin to tell you what
I saw. I can't tell you what I saw, what I heard. And there's
such a war, and this is the one that our glory in. Our glory
in this man that was caught up to heaven, that saw Christ, had
this revelations of Christ. That's the one our glory in.
Yet of myself, me, as I am right now, I will not glory. But I
tell you what our glory in, mine in permittance. Mine in permittance. And I don't know about you, but
I can't hardly bear an infirmity. I can't hardly bear an infirmity.
Everybody's got to know how I feel. I feel this bad, that bad, this
other bad. You know, we just can't glory
in an infirmity. And then look what else he says
here. For though I would desire to glory, if I was to desire
to glory, was to boast about it, I won't be a fool. Only a
fool would glory in something like that. But I said, I'll tell
you what I will do. I'll tell the truth. But now
I forbear. I put it off. I wait a while,
lest any man should think of me above that which he sees to
be. See me to be. Men think above
me what he sees me to be, or that he hears me to be. And he
said, lest I should be exalted above measure. Now, here's a
man Now, he was honest. Here's a man who was really,
nakedly honest. He said, lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations. Now, he understood
his nature. He understood himself as an apostle,
as a man. He said, because of all the things
that God used me for and taught me and revealed to me, he said,
I know what's in me to be exalted. and exalt myself and glory in
all the things that I have done and all I'm doing. But he says,
you know what Christ done for me? Thou hast given to me a thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should
be exalted above nature. Now, every one of us has had
a thorn or some foreign body in our flesh, in our finger,
in our foot, And it'll stay there, and it'll fester, and it'll worry
you to death, and you can't hold it back. Well, Paul said, God
Himself gave me one. God Himself put a thorn in my
flesh. And, oh my, you get struck with
a thorn. And it's awful. I got in a cactus
one time, and I got a bunch of little, little big cactus things
caught in my hand, and I like to have never got them on. It
was one of the worst things. It was awful. And he said here,
he gave me a thorn in the flesh. And what's this? The messenger
of Satan. And the reason he'd done this
is lest I would exalt myself. Unless I exalt myself. And whatever
it takes for God to keep us, and I don't know what being humble
is. I'll tell you the truth, I don't. I know what the dictionary
says about it. I know how the Scriptures tells
us to be humble. put on humility, be clothed with
humility. But what it actually is, I don't
know. I don't know if I've ever had a humble moment in my life.
But Paul is being honest here. He said, lest I be exalted above
measure. And I asked the Lord three times. Now, we get these
thorns in the flesh, and we work and worry and worry and worry
to get them out. But lest I be exalted above measure, I asked
the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He
said unto me, My grace is sufficient for you. Leave that thorn alone. Let it stay right there. I'm
going to keep you where you need to be. And like Brother Henry,
I put it in the bulletin the other day, will we ever be weak
enough, empty enough, and ignorant enough for God to use us for
His glory? And he goes on to say here, my
strength, and this is what Christ said to him, my strength is made
perfect in weakness. So he said, well, I'll tell you
what I'll do. So most gladly, therefore, will I revel in glory,
in my infirmities, in my weaknesses, in my inabilities, that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. And so, therefore, I take pleasure
in my infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I'm weak, then I'm strong. And, O Beloved, is this what
he meant when he says, My strength is made perfect in weakness,
when he says, I am crucified with Christ? Nevertheless, I
live. Yet it is not I that liveth,
but Christ that liveth in me. And the life that I now live
in the flesh, do I live it by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me? Is this what he's talking
about? The life I'm living now, is Christ living in me? That
I have no strength, no ability? Is this what he meant? Look over
here and you keep 2 Corinthians 12 and look at 2 Corinthians
4 with me just a moment. Is this what he meant when he
said, you know my strength made perfect in weakness? Is this
what he meant when he said over here in 2 Corinthians 4 and 7? But we have this treasure. What
is this treasure? The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
have this treasure in earthen vessels. Earthen vessels. That's an earthen vessel right
there. Destroy that, get another one. And all that thing's fit for
us to hold something to drink. There's no glory in it in itself.
It's what it's got in it. And that's what he says here.
We just have this treasure in earthen vessels, clay pots. And
the reason being that the excellency of the power that God uses in
this thing, it may be of God and not of us. So if there's
anything said or done, it's just a treasure in a clay pot. And
oh, beloved, we all know about weaknesses. Look back over here
with me now. We all know about weakness. All of us will admit
to having weaknesses. But how many would admit to being
weak? Weak. Weak. Not just having some weaknesses.
Not just having a thing or two wrong with you. But I mean weak. Weak. Well, let me start out by saying
this. Let me tell you some things where we're not weak in. When
we're weak but not strong. There's a weakness that a lot
of us have which there is no strength. Now, when a person's
weak in the doctrine of Christ, that can't make me strong. If
we have a weakness in the doctrine of Christ, I can't be strong.
Is that not right? Talk about the things, the weaknesses.
that can never make us strong. A weakness in the doctrine of
Christ. Now, you keep this, that, and look with me over in 3 John. 3 John. Third little book of
John. And I want you to see this. Weakness
in the doctrine of Christ can't make me strong. It can't make me strong. You see, it's by studying the
Word of God. having the Word of God, that we grow in faith
and we grow in assurance. And here he says in 2 John, excuse
me, 2 John, verse 9, 2 John, verse 9, it says this, Whosoever
transgresses and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath
not God. Now, do you know what the doctrine
of Christ is? Paul told Timothy, he said, Timothy,
thou hast from your youth known the Holy Scriptures, which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ.
And if we're weak in the doctrine of Christ, then we can't possibly
be strong. And then it goes on to say here,
and he that abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both
the Father and the Son. That mean abideth in, dwelleth
in it, liveth in it, and it lives in you. And listen, this is how
you can tell. If there come any unto you and
bring not this doctrine, the doctrine of Christ in His eternal
glory, and His omnipotence, and His sovereignty, and His particularly
redemptive power and work, this God manifest in the flesh, the
Savior of His people, the Redeemer, the Mediator, the surety, the
only hope we have, the only righteousness we have, if man brings anything
other than Christ to you, Don't even ask, don't even let
him come into your house. If he claims to be religion,
he comes to talk to you and witness to you, don't even let him in
your house. You say, well, they come and walk, there's an old
man and a walker, and he wants to tell you and he wants to witness
about you. Listen, if he ain't got the doctrine of Christ, take
your walker and get back in your car. For he that biddeth him
not, don't even say God bless you as you go. Because if you
biddeth him Godspeed, what he says is you're a partaker of
his evil deeds. of his evil deeds. And that's
why, beloved, that's why, you know, we, when we're weak, but
we're not strong. When we're weak in the doctrine
of Christ, we're not strong. And it's by studying the Word
of God that we grow in faith and assurance. Faith cometh by
hearing, hearing by the Word of God. David said, I've hid
your Word, your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against
you. Paul told the Colossians, he said, let the Word of Christ
The Word of Christ dwells in you richly. And let it dwell
there in all the wisdom that's in it. Let it dwell there in
all that wisdom that's within it. And, oh, beloved, it's the
Scriptures that our Lord answers Satan with. And I want you to
see one other thing in 2 Peter 119. We need to look at this
right here. I got to thinking of this this
morning and sitting looking through my notes here. And you remember
when Simon Peter and James and John was with the Lord Jesus
on the Mount of Transfiguration. They were standing there, and
there they were, and they saw Moses and Elijah. And they knew
it was Moses and Elijah. And the Lord Jesus, while they
were looking at him, he was transformed into a brightness of the sun. And you'd think, boy, old Simon
Peter would brag about that, and he'd always talk about that.
And he'd say, boy, when anybody asked him, you know, how do you
know you've got faith? How do you know you're a saved man?
How do you know you're an apostle? How do you know you know Christ?
He'd say, well, I was on that mountain with him. I had that
experience up there. But no, no, look what he says.
Verse 19. 2 Peter 1, 19. And oh, that's what he talks
about. And oh, I saw that, heard that
heaven, that voice from heaven on the mountain. We all have
also a more sure word of prophecy. I trust the word of God more
than any experience I've ever had, what he said. I trust the
word of God rather than what I've seen on that mountain. And
I was there. And I remember what I said and
I remember what I've done. We also have a more sure word
of prophecy. We have the word of God. We're
unto you do well that you take heed. Take heed to this word. Take heed to these scriptures.
As unto a light that shines in a dark place. That's what this
blessed book is. It's a light that shines in a
dark place. This world is dark. Sin is dark. We have darkness in us. Darkness
in religion, darkness in politics, darkness in sociology, darkness
in economics, darkness everywhere you look. And he says, look at
this word, dwell in this word, because there's light in the
darkness here. And this is the only place there's
any light in this blessed book. And he said, just keep, dwell
on that. Look at that until the day comes. One of these days,
the sun's going to come up. The day is going to dawn, and
you know what it will be? It will be the day when Christ
springs alive in your heart, and you're going to be with Him.
But He said, until then, you're in the darkness. Use this for
the state of this Word. Now, I'll tell you something
else. If we have a weakness in prayer and devotion, that can't
make us strong. And this here condemns me. I'm
like John Newton. I say a lot of things and preach
a lot of things. that just because I don't live
up to them, don't measure up to them, that don't make them
any less true. Is that not right? And when we're weak in prayer
and when we're weak in devotion, that can't make us strong. Our
Lord Jesus says, pray always. Men ought always to pray and
not to faint. Ought always to pray. And that's
why Samuel told the children of Israel one day, When they
wanted a king and they realized that they had made a mess out
of it, they said, Pray for us, Samuel. And he said, God forbid
that I should sin against God and tell him to pray for you.
Now, beloved, prayer is in devotion, something that a person has to
come to a conclusion of how much they want to do and how much
it is for them and what they get by it. But I know this flesh,
and I know the weakness of it, we get by with as little as we
possibly can to keep our conscience quiet. Wouldn't you agree with
that? Wouldn't you agree with that,
that we pray just enough and devote ourselves just enough
just to keep our conscience just a little still? Weakness in prayer and devotion
can't make us strong. Oh, weakness in praying for the
church, praying for the will of God, praying for the will
of God in your own heart, your own life, your own home, for people that we love, people
that we care for. And we always will make statements
and sing these songs, you know, I go rejoicing all the day long,
and we just sing and sing alive most of the time when we sing
that. You know, we'll say, my heart
pants after you like the heart pants after the water brook.
Does it really? Oh, my God, have mercy on me.
I'll tell you something else that would never make us strong.
Weakness in faithfulness to worship. Weakness being weak in faithfulness
to the Word of God, to the worship of Christ, and the fellowship
of Christ. That can't make me strong. Not
being faithful to meet with the children of God. Not being faithful
to meet through the worship of Christ. Not being faithful to
come and meet with the saints of God. That can't make me strong.
I want you to look with me over here in Hebrews chapter 10, just
a moment. Hebrews chapter 10. You know, Paul says, forsake
not the assembling of yourselves together. Together. Together. And he said here in verse 23,
Hebrews 10, let us hold fast. Let us hold fast the profession
of our faith, what we confess to believe. This is not our subjective
faith, this is our objective faith. Let us hold fast our profession
of what we believe, what we say our hope is, and what we hold
to. And do that without wavering,
for He is faithful and promised. And let us consider one another.
To provoke unto love and to good works, how can you do that? How
can I provoke you to love? How can I provoke you to love,
to love Christ, to love His Word, to love me, to love one another?
How can I provoke you to do that? How would I do that? And not
only that, but to provoke you to good works. To provoke you to good works.
And he says, I can't do it if you forsake
the assembling of yourselves together. I can't provoke you
to love and to good works if you're not here, if you're not
attending the worship, not attending the assembly. And some people
have a manner of not gathering together with the saints of God.
But he says, when you are assembled, exhort one another and do it
so much the more as you see the day approaching. And our day
is closer than it was when we first began. Oh, beloved, forsake not the
assembling of yourselves together. Exhort one another, encourage
one another, edify one another, build one another, provoke one
another to love. And oh, here's another thing
that we have a weakness in. We're talking about a weakness.
You know, Paul said, when I'm weak, then I'm a strong. But
there are some weaknesses that we have that we cannot make us
strong. A weakness in our character. A weakness in our conduct, a
weakness in our attitude can't make me strong. If I've got a
weakness in my character that you can't trust me, you
can't depend on me, flaw in my character and my conduct, how
I conduct myself when I'm around you, when I'm in the world, when
I'm away from you, how I am at home, how I am out in the world,
how I am when I'm around people that are unconverted. Walk uprightly. You know, Paul
rebuked Simon Peter because he said he walked not uprightly
according to the gospel. Now, I'll tell you what, his
attitude had to be wrong for him not to walk uprightly according
to the gospel. And by his conduct, that's how he knew that he wasn't
walking upright according to the gospel. And his character
hadn't had a great weakness in his character to be carried away,
him and Barnabas both, because of a bunch of Jews that came
around. And that's what he said, you know, he said, I was doing
to his face. And our Lord Jesus told us, you
know, He said, walk worthy, walk worthy of the vocation we're
with your call. And you know what a vocation
is? That's your life's work, your calling. Now, God gave you
all of it. He gave you jobs. And you've
all had jobs and y'all make a living and y'all been out in the world
and y'all, God gave you jobs, but your vocation is Christ.
He gave you jobs so you could support the gospel and gather
in here and meet with the people of God. That's the reason, you
know, but your vocation is that's why Paul says when Christ who
is our Lord. And our vocation is Christ. Our vocation has become
as a believer. Our vocation is walking according
to the word of God, walking by faith, living to the glory of
God, believe in his word. That's what our vocation is.
You need to have a job in order so you can live to the glory
of Christ. Anybody here got a job Christ didn't give to you? Anybody
here got any money Christ didn't provide you? Anybody here got
just enough to get in and out of the way that God didn't give
you? And that's why He says, you know,
whatever you do, do it as unto the Lord. You've got a job. Christ
gave you the job, Lord. I'll take it. I'm the Lord's
servant. This fellow here is selling a paycheck, but the Lord
Jesus is the one who sends it. So that's the truth. Ain't that
right? And that's what He gave us. And
oh, you know, let me tell you something. If we're weak in character
and conduct, and it can't possibly make us strong in attitude, what
it does, it only weakens our witness. It weakens our testimony. It weakens our influence. You
know Lot, when the Lord come to get him
out of Sodom and warn him what was going to happen, he went
and told his son-in-law. And you know what they said?
He seemed as one that mocked. He lost all of his influence
with his own family. His daughters, he had I don't
know how many he had that was married. He went and told his
son-in-law, he said, God's fixed to destroy this place. Come on,
let's get out of here. And he seemed as one that mocked. We
know you lot. We've been in your family for
years. And only two daughters were left
out there with him. And his own wife, he even lost
his own wife. They lived in Sodom so long.
And that's the way, you know, Scott Richards said something,
the world and the church has got together so much that you
can't hardly tell the difference between the two. But oh, Lot's
wife, she started out there with him. And she turned around and
looked back, turned to a pillar of salt right there. He lost
it all. Why? Lost his testimony, lost
his witness, lost his influence. That's enough. That's enough. Now, let's look at this here.
What did the apostle mean? when he says, when I'm weak,
then am I strong? What does the apostle mean when
he says, when I'm weak, then am I strong? Well, I'll tell
you what I think he means. He says, I'm weak before the
majesty, before the glory, before the power, before the sorrow,
before the glory, of Almighty God. I'm weak before God and
His majesty and His glory. Isaiah said, I saw the Lord,
high and lifted up, and His glory filled the temple. And I saw
the cherubim standing around Him, crying, Holy, Holy, Holy,
and the doorpost of that temple shook. And he said, and when
I saw Him, the first thing I said was, Hallelujah, I see Jesus! Hallelujah! Oh, I see an angel. Oh, he saw him high and lifted
up, and he said, Oh, it's me. Oh, it's me. Oh, it's me. There's God in His glory. There's God in His power. There's
God in His might. There's God in His majesty. What can I do? I can't stand here. I got it on. Job said, oh, I've heard about
you for years and years and years and years. Now my eye sees you. My eye sees
you. Oh, I see you. Lord, I'm going to get down here
and I'm going to get in dust. I'm going to get down in these
ashes where I'm getting. I'm getting down here in dust
and ashes. I'm going to quit talking like I know everything
there is about you. No, John said, I saw the Lord.
I saw Him in His glory. I saw Him with that glory white
hair and that wonderful danced on him, and I saw him with that
rod of iron, and I turned around and looked at him, and I felt
like a man that was dead, couldn't live in the presence of him.
Abraham said, Lord, who am I, dust and ashes, to speak to you? David, the king of Israel, said,
oh, Lord, oh, Lord, who am I? Who am I? What is my house? Who
else is my house? Who am I? Who am I, Lord, that you'd even
look at me, think of me, consider me? Who am I? And Paul says,
though I'm the chiefest of the apostles, I'm nothing, nothing. Tell you something else that
I think he meant. Not only are we weak before the
majesty and the glory of God, But I think he meant, you know,
that I'm weak before the perfect, holy, just law of God. I'm weak
before it. He says this. He says all of
our righteousnesses are as a filthy rag. And when I stand before
God's law, I don't want it in my front yard. I don't want it
on the court. I don't want to face it anywhere
except in Christ. I'm weak before the perfect,
Holy Lord God, He condensed me from the top to the bottom, from
the inside and the outside. Paul said, I know that by the
deed to the flesh, by anything a human being can do, shall the
flesh be justified by the law and the sight of God. There is
no hope for me, speaking just for me, no hope for me in my
strength. and my own strength and ability
to keep the law. Not one iota of it. Not one. And it hangs on two commandments.
Love God, love your neighbors as yourself. I don't even, as much as I love
my children and grandchildren, I don't love them according to
the law of God. Only reason I love them, because
they're mine. I don't love yours like I love
mine. Ain't that right? I don't love
your children like I love mine. Don't love your grandchildren
like I love mine. So that's that. The law's got me. Look over here
in Romans 8 with me just a moment. Romans 8. Paul said, I had not known sin,
but by the law. You know how most people become
sinners? Some preacher tells them they are. And they'll say,
well, the Bible says all of sin comes short of the glory of God.
If you sin, oh, yeah, yeah. Are you a sinner? Oh, yeah, yeah.
Well, here, I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, you know,
it said here, if you, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved, will you call on him? Oh, yeah, I'll call on him.
And they'll go through all that. But I tell you what, a man will
not know what sin is. until God brings the holy law
of God to bear on his heart and on his conscience, and he does
it by the Holy Spirit. And as a regenerated person,
as somebody born again by the Spirit of God, I'm no more able
to keep the law of God as a regenerated person than I am as a natural
man. That's why Paul says, with my
mind I serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of
sin. He said, oh, listen, I'd love to. The will is present
with me. I've got the will. It's holy
and it's just as good. I've got the will. I've got the
will to love God with my whole being. I've got the will to love
my neighbors and myself. I've got the will to live to
the glory of God and never think of myself. I've got the will.
But you know what my problem is? I don't know how to perform
it. I've got this old dead body,
old wretched man that I am. Oh, wretched man that I am. Look
here in Romans 8, verse 1. It says, There is therefore now,
thank God for this, no condemnation, no judgment to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh. And we don't
walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the
life of the Spirit, the principle of the Spirit of Christ and the
life of Christ in us, hath made me free from the law of sin,
sin that reigns over, sin that hath dominion, and death that
that sin brought. Now listen to it here. For what
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh.
There's nothing wrong with the law. The problem's with us. The problem is with us. And the
law is just, holy, and good. But I'm carnal. I'm sold unto
sin. So God did this. He sent His
own Son in the likeness. He had a body like ours. He wept like we do. He bled like
we do. But He was in the likeness of
sinful flesh. He was a sinful flesh. He was
without sin, but he had a body like us. He had prepared a body,
and God put him in flesh. But it wasn't sinful flesh like
us. But as this man in this body,
God made him to be sin. Condemned him, made him a sacrifice
for sin, and judged sin in the flesh. In whose flesh? Christ's
flesh. And here's the reason being that
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who is not of all connections
of flesh. We've not found out what the flesh can do. It can't
do nothing. Are you a God-made sinner or
a man-made sinner? If God makes you a sinner, do
you know how long you'll be a sinner? Till the day you close your eyes
in death. But thank God. Oh, bless the
Lord, O my soul. Listen, he says, but the righteousness
of the law is fulfilled in us. And let me tell you something
else. I'll tell you something. I think he meant when I'm weak, then
I'm a strong. I believe he meant that when
I'm weak before trials, that's when we're strong. And I'm weak
before trials. In fact, I don't know, and I'm honest as I possibly
can before God Himself. I don't know that I've ever had
a real trial in my life. I've had a lot of inconveniences.
I've had a lot of aggravation. I've had a lot of vexation. I've
had a lot of ups and downs. But I don't know that I've ever
had a real trial in my life. Now, I've seen some of you had
some real trials. Go through things with your husbands,
your wives, your children. James, you know, God's got you
in the furnace of affliction now. And how God upholds you is just
amazing to me. And I give thanks for it. I do. But oh, he says, I believe
I'm weak before trials. That's why he said, I asked three
times, three times, Lord, take this thorn away from me. I don't
want to suffer. I don't want this messenger. I don't want this thorn in my
flesh. What does the Lord say to him?
My grace, my grace is sufficient. And if we ever, ever, I'm speaking
myself again, if I ever overcome anything at all, It's because
His grace is sufficient. It's by His strength, it's by
His grace that we can go through anything. John Newton said this
one time, he said, it takes as much of the grace of God to react
to the breaking of a china cup as it is the death of a child. You say, now you think about
that for just a moment. You say, that kind of cup don't mean nothing.
Let somebody break one of yours. How are you going to react to
it? You say, well, if I lost a child, then you know everybody
can feel that and everybody can go through that. But it's the
little things, it's the cups that break that upset us the
most, that we absolutely lose our religion
over. Would you all agree with that?
It's the top of a cup. Oh my goodness. Man, that's my,
I can't tell you what that cup meant to me. So and so bought that for me.
That was a scent that, oh my, my grandmother had it. She passed
the time to come up and it's now my, just come all to pieces
on her cup. And that's what we're talking
about here. My, you know, we, it's the, It's just cups. There's no comparison to breaking
a cup and losing a child's life. But it's our reaction to it that
makes a difference. How do we react to it? How do
we react to it? You know what Paul said? And
let's look at it real quick. I'll hurry. I know I'm taking
a long time. But look over here in Romans
8.35. This is what Paul said about, I know I'm weak before
the my trials. Oh Lord, take this thorn away
from me. No, I'm not going to do it. That's
not going to do it. But he said here in verse 35,
oh my, talking about a week before trials, who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? Will tribulation do it? No. Distress,
famine, persecution, nakedness, peril, sword, Verse 37, "'Nay,
no, no, no, no, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loveth us.' For I am persuaded that neither
death nor life, my death, my wife's death, my children's death,
anybody's death, nor life, or any life that comes into this
world, my grandbabies, my children, No life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor anything,
no matter how high it is, how deep it takes me, or any other
creature, shall be able to separate us," and this is the key, from
the love of God. Why? Because it's in Christ Jesus. And I've been convinced that
the love of God is in Christ. Huh? Oh, the love of God in Christ,
that's how we'll overcome His grace and His love. And I'll
tell you something else I think he meant when he says, well,
when I'm weak, am I strong? When we're weak before our responsibility,
we all have responsibilities. Myself, I know the burden of
the Word of the Lord not near as much as I should, not near
as much as I used to. When I know my responsibility
to the gospel, when our responsibility to live for His glory, to honor
His name, to speak the truth in love, Your responsibility
as a husband, as a wife, as a person that you work for,
to your children, to your neighbors, to a thousand things are responsibility. And I'm weak for my responsibility.
I put things off until I just absolutely have to do it. You
all don't do that, do you? When I ain't got no Mary says,
go put on my tombstone, it'll keep till tomorrow. But by then, it won't keep. It
won't make any difference. Will it, Brad? Put that on my
tombstone, it won't make any difference then, will it? It
won't make a bit of difference then. Go ahead and put it on
my tombstone now, then I'll just stop now. But no, no. No wonder Paul says, you know,
who is sufficient for these things? Who is sufficient? And then I'm weak. I believe
I'm weak, and I believe, he says, when we're weak, we're strong.
I believe, he says, when we're weak in spiritual watchfulness.
You know, our Lord says, watch and pray. As you see thy approach,
watch and pray. He went off to Gethsemane. He
took Peter, James, and John with Him. And He says, He said, I'm
going to go over yonder and pray. And he said, you all sit here
and watch for me, will you? There's some fellas going to
be coming out here after me after a while. He said, this is my
night, you know. So I'm going to go over here
and pray. And they went over, and the first thing they heard him say, Father, if you're willing, if you're willing, let this cut pass from me. And
he'd come back and he was heavy-eyed. He'd try to stir him up. Fellas,
watch. Watch and pray. Went off and
prayed again, come back, and they sounded asleep. And he says, well, sleep on now.
The Spirit's willing. But truly, truly, the flesh is
weak. And, boy, spiritual watchfulness,
to watch our own heart, to watch our own inabilities, to watch
for one another, to watch for the day. And David prayed and
said, Lord, don't let me sleep. Don't let me sleep the sleep
of death. Don't let me sleep the sleep of death. And I'll
tell you another thing, and this is the last thing. When I'm weak,
then I'm a strong. I'll probably be very weak when
it comes time to leave this world. Probably be very weak and dead.
I'll probably resist it with every bit of strength I've got.
I know we talk about, you know, boy, I just can't hardly wait
to get home. I can't hardly, you know, until it's time to
go. And then everybody says, Lord,
would you leave him just another, would you leave him just another
half a day? Can I have another day with him? And when the Lord
said to the doctor, you go to the doctor and that doctor says,
well, you got six months. Right then, right then and there, death is right before me. And when it happens to me, and
I have an appointment, I have an appointment with, we all have
an appointment with, what will I do when it comes to my time?
How will I act? How will I act? Will I fight
it? Will I complain? Will I murmur? Will I say, oh,
please don't let me lay here and suffer? Please give me a
shot, do something for me. When I'm dying, will I really,
really look to Christ for dying grace, or will I find no? Well, when it comes time for
me to go, I hope and pray that's what I do. I hope and pray that
I look to Him for grace to die by. Because right now, I'm seeking
Him for grace to live by. I'd be grace to live today. Grace to live today. Let's look
at Psalm 91 together. Let's read this together and
I'm through. Psalm 91. Yeah, I'm looking to Him for
grace to live. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty." Oh, wouldn't that be a wonderful place to hide?
I will say of the Lord, talking about when I'm weak and must
draw, I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress.
My God in Him will I trust. Surely He shall deliver thee
from the snare of the fowler, them traps that are laid for
you, and from the noise and pestilence, all the things that we think
is going to come and going to destroy us." He said, He'll save
you from that. He shall cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings shalt thou trust. And His truth, His truth
will be your shield. Thou shalt not be afraid for
the terror by night, when you wake up at night and you're scared
to death that this is going to happen, that's going to happen.
Nor for the arrow that flies by day, that arrow that's going
to come and hit you and kill you and destroy you. Nor for
the pestilence that walks in darkness for the destruction
that wastes with the way of noonday. He says, you know what? He says,
God will cause a thousand shall fall at your side. A thousand
troubles and ten thousand at your right hand. And it won't
come night of you. You see all these people going
out into eternity, trouble everywhere, dying by the droves. But He says it won't come night
of you until it's time. But for all these things we're
weak, and the only place, the only place we find our strength
is in Christ. And He says, My strength, My
strength, My strength, My strength. is made perfect in weakness. Well, then, if that's what it
takes, I'm weak. I'm weak. Our Father, in the blessed, glorious
name of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, blessed be Your name for Your
grace today, for the strength today, And Lord, we need it, and we'll
look tomorrow, and we'll look again for you and your grace,
for your strength. Sometimes we're more acutely
aware than in others of our inability and our weakness. But Lord, we never, ever doubt
your weakness and your ability. So that's why we look to you
and call on you and trust you, and trust your blessed word.
Father, strengthen these saints. Save you people in this place.
And cause us, oh cause us, to cast ourselves on you once again.
To just dive in, dive in, fall in, to our Lord Jesus Christ,
His grace, His blood, His righteousness, His power. We thank you. In Christ's name. Amen. Amen.