When the word tribulation is
mentioned in our day, the minds of many are immediately turned
to think of an imaginary period of time which the dispensationalists
have dubbed the Great Tribulation. The tribulation of which we speak,
however, which the sons of God are called upon to endure, has
nothing to do with prophecy, nor the ages to come. All of
the tribulations and troubles which befall the sons of God
are ordained by Him for their benefit, because it is impossible
that He should ever cause anything to transpire for their hurt.
These troubles are not necessarily visible to others since they
are often the product of their own sinfulness and unbelief.
The Lord is pleased to vex His children with their own wanderings
and disobedient tendencies in order that He might convince
them of their barrenness and their absolute dependence on
Him. By such troubles He is pleased
to make them aware of specific faults and failings in their
lives, but sometimes He is pleased to cause them to have great lamentations
and forays into darkness without any apparent reason for their
chastening. All of the chastening of the
sons of God is not brought on them for specific sins that they
are made aware of in the particular trials that they are going through.
Sometimes He is just pleased to remove their comforts, even
as He did the prophet Jonah. Sometimes He is pleased to acquaint
them with darkness of soul, even as He did with Jeremiah. It is
as a result of these times of vexation of spirit and wanderings
of the mind that he is often pleased to lift up their heads
with joy as he brings to their minds a remembrance of his great
and precious promises. We cannot appreciate the depth
of his blessings apart from a genuine acquaintance with the depravity
of our own nature. The glibness and shallow character
of modern Christianity is a manifestation of a lack of such an acquaintance.
The average so-called believer today has no understanding of
the furnace through which the genuine sons of God are carried
through. He cannot imagine what would
ever prompt the sons of God to lament the day of their birth
as Job and Jeremiah did. We speak not here of external
trials such as sickness or financial trouble, but of a much deeper
vexation of spirit, which only those who have had some acquaintance
with the vileness of their own hearts can know. It is this acquaintance
that would cause even the true sons of God to question whether
or not the Lord has cast them off. The nominal believer finds
such a condition abhorrent because he believes that the enjoyment
of the Lord's blessings are not only his right, but thinks that
he can have them whenever he wants just by thinking positively
about God's promises. There is a relief of mind which
religious men may possess as they warm themselves by a fire
which they have kindled. The true sons of God, however,
can never be satisfied with such a fire, but are compelled to
cry out to the Lord for warmth and light. They are quite convinced
that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that
build it. Except the Lord keep the city,
the watchman waketh, but in vain. The power of positive thinking
offers no comfort for those whose hope is in Christ alone. That
man who is acquainted with his own dark heart knows that the
Lord should cast him off daily and would not be surprised if
he did, except that the same gracious Lord is pleased to apply
the sweet healing balm of the gospel to his very soul and allay
his fears and give him strength to stand. For this very reason
the Lord of great mercy has ordained that the gospel be preached as
a healing for the nations. Well did the Lord describe his
ministry. The spirit of the Lord is upon
me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the
captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty
them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
What a glorious privilege has been given to the sons of God,
not only to be acquainted with their own utter barrenness and
fitness for destruction, but to hear the gospel with hearing
ears. Do you hear the shepherd's voice today? He calls his own
sheep by name. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.