I hope I can get this stuff done. I haven't done that in a long time, and it tells me how much I appreciate Terrence and Glenn for doing it. I seem to get to enjoy it when they do it. It's harder to enjoy while I'm standing up here. Before we begin, we'll go to the Lord in prayer.

Trying to get this thing to work right, and it's not going to work. All right. Okay. Well, it keeps flipping around, so I don't know if I'm going to read it that way or not. They say always just reboot when it messes up. I don't know why it's not flipping around. I don't know. It's just flipping sideways. It won't stop flipping sideways. Just a second. Let me figure this out. Let's see what I'll do. I'll take this off. Maybe that'll help. Okay.

Well, again, the message will go to God in prayer. Remember, Glenn, he's not feeling well, and Sherry's not feeling well, and others who are having difficulties. We'll ask God's mercy upon them. I pray that, ask that you would pray for me as I preach this message to you.

I've, yes, Cindy. Tammy? Well, we are full of ailments. Well, hopefully the message will speak to that. I think it will. I preached y'all about murmuring recently and I don't think one message was good enough for me. So I need another one. So y'all are gonna get another one tonight.

I do ask God's blessing upon it. I do pray that God give me the liberty and the unction of his spirit for you, that God would feed you with his word and instruct us. And I pray this would be an encouraging message too. My desire, and I know that's the word here, is for our encouragement. I'm so thankful to see myself in these men in Scripture. I'm thankful that I'm not an isolated incident, that this is not outside the pale of God's people, but God left these people here for our instruction and our learning. Oh, I pray God teach us, instruct us by his spirit tonight.

So pray for those that are sick. Pray for Cindy. That's Joanne's niece. Pray for her and her family. She has cancer and they're not doing well. So pray for these that are sick. I know that God knows. And he's able, he's able to heal, isn't he? We're here tonight, and that's a product of his healing, of his grace to us. Give us the strength to be here, so I'm thankful for that. Let's go to him in prayer. Our gracious Father in heaven, we come before you Vowing ourselves again. Recognizing again we have no strength in ourselves. We have no ability in ourselves. And we come to you seeking grace and strength tonight.

We desire it. We pray for it. We ask that you send your Holy Spirit into every heart and every mind that we might hear the gospel and by faith receive it as it is the word of God for our comfort, for our instruction in righteousness. I pray that you would use it as you please tonight for the comfort of your people. Help us, Father. Help us to worship. Help us to praise.

We're so bogged down with the things of this life and the cares of the flesh. We pray for this moment, this time, that you would elevate us out of these things and set our hearts and minds upon you, upon Christ our Savior. Help us to fix our eyes on Him so as not to complain and to murmur and to spend our days Father, in bitterness and sorrow, but rather, Father, looking to Christ and finding all the comfort and strength that we need in Him.

We lift those up that are sick. Please be with them. Please heal their bodies and bring them back. Those who are suffering in the mind, those who are grieving, those who are sorrowful, those who are rebellious, those who are hard-hearted, Those who are, Father, we're capable of all these things.

We pray for your healing hand of grace and mercy. Bring us back together that we may rejoice in the gospel of Christ together and in one another. We love to see one another and pray that you would bring us together again. Forgive us our sins. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.

I take your Bibles and turn with me to Lamentations. chapter 3. Lamentation chapter 3. My verse will be found in verse 39. Lamentation 3 and verse 39. I mentioned this in that message that we were, I was talking, I was preaching from numbers about the Israelites murmuring and complaining, and this text came to mind as I was preaching that message, and it was this. Why doth a living man complain? A man for the punishment of his sins. Entitled this message, A Question for a Living Man. A question for a living man.

Now, in this chapter of Lamentation, Jeremiah the prophet was recounting his suffering, his great suffering at the hands of his brethren. You remember, Jeremiah was the prophet God sent out to the nation of Israel, to his people. And He warned them. He was warning them to repent. He exposed their sin and their guilt before God in rejecting God. And He said that they should repent. But instead of love, instead of being thankful that God had sent a prophet to them, instead of rewarding His love and affection to them, they in anger threw Him in a pit.

We read this in verse 51. Look at this. He said, Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of the daughter of my city. He recounts here his tears. He had cried for them. He had longed for their salvation. And notice what he said. They have cut off my life in a dungeon and cast a stone upon me. Waters overflowed mine head. Then said I am cut off. They put him in a pit and they put a rock over the top of it. And there he was wasting away in his own dung, in his own urine. It was horrible what they had done to this man. A prophet of God. And he thought it was over for him. He thought, this, I'm fine, I'm cut off now. I'm cut off from the land of the living. And so this prophet that stood in the mire and the dung many days, even though this evil was done by his enemies, yet I want us to see to whom he really accounts his suffering to come from.

That's a very important lesson for us. Believers, I know we go through many difficulties, many afflictions. Matter of fact, the scripture said that we through much tribulation should enter the kingdom of God. God's not shy about telling us what to expect. And yet even though he received this of his enemies, notice what he said. Look at verse 1.

He said, I am a man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He hath led me and brought me into darkness and not into light. Surely against me is He turned. He turneth his hand against me all the day. My flesh, my skin, he hath made old. He hath broken my bones.

He says he 21 times in the first 17 verses. He is accounting his suffering to the sovereign hand of God. Yes, his enemies did it. But Jeremiah understood where his sufferings originated, and it is the will of God. It is the will of God. He said, God turned His hand against me. God brought me into darkness. God hedged me in. Verse 12, God bent His bow against me, and His arrow struck in me. Verse 15, God had filled me with bitterness, and made me to drink wormwood. Verse 17, God hath removed me from peace. What's the lesson here? The lesson is this.

In every suffering affliction, we should account it as it is the will of God. Is there anything outside that happens to us in providence that is not the will of God? Everything that happens to us is according to the sovereign will of God. And we're going to see this a little bit more later in the text. And so as we see our suffering, we should see it is of the sovereign hand of God that our trials, our afflictions, our sorrows are intended for this purpose, not to destroy us, but that God should show His mercy. God intends to show His mercy. Notice what He says in verse 21. Look at that. He said, This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. In the midst of this suffering, listen, this is what He calls to mind.

It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Because His compassions fail not, they are new every morning. Listen to this. Great is Thy faithfulness. He accounted his sufferings to God, but he also accounted this to God, mercy and faithfulness. So as we suffer, we should account it to the sovereign hand of God, but we should also account this. This, we need to recall this to mind, is that thy mercies are new every morning and great is thy faithfulness. Great is thy faithfulness.

But I want you to see this even more importantly. Now, as I see his sufferings, I see mine. I understand. I don't know his specific sufferings. They were thrown in the pit. I've never had that happen to me where the crowd rushed me, grabbed me, put me in prison. No, not exactly the same. But I'll tell you this, my suffering to me is just as harmful. It feels just as painful as it did to this brother.

But I want you to see the greater meaning of this text because these are not just the words of Jeremiah, these are the words of Christ. These are the words of Christ. Now how do you know that? Look at verse 1 and tell me this is Jeremiah or is this Christ? Look at this. I am a man that has seen affliction by the rod of his, what?

Wrath. Now did Jeremiah ever experience the wrath of God? Jeremiah never experienced the wrath of God, and listen, neither will any of his elect ever experience the wrath of God. There is one man, there is one man who identifies with that text, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is a man that has seen the rod of God's wrath. He alone is a man that has seen the rod of God's wrath.

In Zechariah 13, verse 7, it says, Awake, O sword. What's that? That's the wrath of God. God's proclaiming what he will do to Christ. He said, Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd. Smite the shepherd.

So this evening, as we are so prone to look at our own suffering. Let us for a moment look at His. Let us for a moment pass by and see Him who was crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree, Son of God in human flesh, as He bore our sins in His own body on the tree, He says, I am a man that has seen affliction. You and I think we have seen affliction. It feels like we've seen affliction. But in truth, we have not seen affliction like His. No one has ever seen affliction like His.

You see, He was made to bear all of the sins of His people on that tree. How many sins have you committed? Can you count them? Is it possible? And yet He bore all of our sins, listen, of all His elect, at one time the weight, the guilt of all of our sins bore on His shoulders.

He is a man that has seen affliction by the rod of His wrath. God led him into darkness where there was no light. God had turned his hand against Christ. God has set him in dark places as they that be dead of old. God hath hedged him about that he cannot get out. He hath made his chain heavy. God set him as the mark of his arrow. And the fierceness of God's wrath fell on Jesus Christ. When I read this in verse 15, He hath filled me with bitterness, He hath made me drunken with wormwood. The bitterest, the bitterest of herbs.

This reminds me of what it says in Psalm 110, He shall drink of the brook in the way. That brook was the brook Kittron. Remember, that's where all the dung and the blood from the sacrifices flowed down that brook Kittron. That's where all of the ashes of the false gods, who the king of Israel, king of Judah burned, he poured all the ashes into the brook Kittron. And the Lord says this, He shall drink of the brook in the way. Our Lord drank in all of our sins.

Listen to the glorious thing that happened when He did this, when He suffered. He did something that none of us could do. He actually purged our sins. He actually purged them. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 said this, Who being in the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person, upholding all things by the word of His power, listen, when He hath by Himself purged our sins, purged our sins, He sat down. It is done. Our Lord Jesus Christ, when He suffered for our sins, We think of His suffering. We should. We should also think of His victory.

I like what it says in chapter 1 and verse 12 of Lamentations. This also speaking in the words of Christ. He says, Is it nothing to you that pass by? Behold, and see if there is any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger." So as we think of our afflictions, we should more readily think of His. Take your afflictions, whatever afflictions we have, and now set them against His. fade in the distance compared as we pass by the cross, as we see Him crucified. Do our afflictions not seem light in comparison to His?

When you see a man, you see in your mind's eye a man suffering in hell for eternity. You know, that man is only suffering for his own sins. But the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He suffered for all the sins of all his people, and get this, he did it in three hours. My Lord did that in three hours, what a man could not do in eternity. He did for all of his people in three hours upon the tree. And what does the scripture say about as we pass by his What do we see? We do not see defeat. We see victory. Why? Because He purged us of our sin.

I like what it says in Hebrews chapter 10. Probably one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It says that we were sanctified by the will of God. Hebrews chapter 10 and I think it's verse 9, by the witch will. We are sanctified. Made holy. by the will of God through, this is the means, the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, how many times? Once. Once for all. In verse 14 he said, He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.

So in the midst of your afflictions, what's your hope? My hope is not in my success in overcoming afflictions, but his. My joy is in that he overcame my sin, my guilt. He satisfied the justice of God. He provides righteousness for me that I cannot provide for myself. And so now, what is my hope? What is the hope for the sinner? It is this, that the mercies of the Lord, it is of the mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed and his compassion fails not.

This was Jeremiah's hope. In that pit, this was his hope. For all purposes, he was as good as dead. He said, I was just as good as dead. But you know what my hope was? It wasn't getting out of this pit. He didn't have any hope of getting out of that pit. You know what his hope was?

That God's mercies endure forever. That God is faithful regardless of what I think, regardless of how I feel, regardless of what's happening to me. Jeremiah said, His mercies and compassions do not fail. Now imagine that, being in that pit, looking up, ready to die, and Him saying, I thank you that your mercies endure forever. I'm so thankful that you're faithful.

You know what? We could say that in our afflictions. We could say that in our distresses. Why? Because it's so. Regardless of what happens, it's so. God is faithful. God is faithful. Why? Because Christ is victorious. Christ is successful. It's of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed.

You know when the angels fail, it was immediate. When they sinned one time, they lost their estate forever. Scripture says they were reserved in chains of darkness until the final day of judgment. No hope for them. But then look at man, look at Adam. Adam comes in and Adam doesn't just represent himself. He represents all of his race. He's a federal head of all his race. You know those angels? They were only the federal head of themselves. And yet when they sinned, they were reserved in darkness. But consider this, Adam murdered his entire race. You see how much greater the sin was? Adam murdered his entire race.

And you know what God did? God sought him out. God showed mercy to Adam. And God preached the gospel that Christ would come. The seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. It would be by His death that their nakedness would be covered. So God declares Christ to him.

So then what is this to us, we who believe? We should be in constant thankfulness and praise to God for His mercies. Had God not chose us, had Christ not come and offered Himself for our sins, had not the Holy Spirit come to us, we would have never come to Him. He came to us. He quickened us. Jesus said, No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him. We were by nature sinners, dead in sins, but God who loved us, who joined us to Christ, and Christ who hath redeemed us has sent His Spirit into our hearts giving us life and faith to believe on Jesus Christ. He's quickened us. And so long as we walk in this world, so long as we live in this body, it is the power of God that keeps us, isn't it?

I preached to you the last time about the perseverance and preservation of God. You that believe, you know this, you must persevere in faith. But what's your hope of perseverance? Isn't it preservation? That God is going to keep you? That's my only hope of being kept, is if God keeps us, and God has promised to keep us. And so seeing that God has given us life and faith and grace, He's given us His Son, His blood, His righteousness, and His mercies. He has made us living men. You that believe, you are the man in our text.

When he said, why doth the living man complain? Who is he talking about? He's talking about those of us who believe on Jesus Christ, those of us who are born again of the Spirit. And so the question tonight of the text is to you. seeing that Christ died, seeing that you were chosen of God, that His mercies endure forever. He asked the question to us tonight, why does the living man complain? The man who is quickened by the Spirit of God, why does the living man complain?

Now, we believe in Christ, are made sons of God, heirs of heaven, partakers of the divine nature, we are the elect, the redeemed, we are precious in His sight, and yet, when trouble comes to us, we are full of complaints. Full of complaints. We're full of murmuring against our lot and the providences of God. Now, I didn't say this last time, but I wanted to tell you this, that there is a great difference between prayers and petitions and murmuring.

God exhorts us in our affliction to bring our petitions to Him, to bring our cares to Him. Cast all your care upon Him for He careth for you. That's not murmuring. That's not murmuring. We are exhorted. Remember Hezekiah as he laid out those letters before the Lord.

We do that. We come to the end of ourselves and we don't have any strength in ourselves. What do we do? We lift up our troubles and lay them out before God. That's not murmuring. It's not complaining. Well, what is? Well, murmuring and complaining is this.

We all have plans. We all have aspirations, and we think things should go like this. We think, well, this, if I do this, and I do this, and I do this, then this will be the result. We look at other people and they say they've done this, they've done this, and they got that result.

So if I do this, and then when it totally goes to mass, when our thoughts and our feelings are laid to ashes in our feet, our plans, our schemes, our dreams, for ourselves, our children, our lives, our jobs, whatever it is, When we plan and scheme, and then it lays and ashes at our feet, when God dashes our dreams against His providence, it is then we are full of complaints and murmur, listen, against God.

We murmur against God. When you go through the Old Testament and you see the Israelites, you see this, they never went to God. Oh, you got that? They never, they were, they were murmuring and complaining. And then when it got so much that they go tell Moses, I don't ever read him. Any of them just say, man, Lord, please. No, they gripe about their lot. about their situation.

Remember when Israel, they just got out of Egypt. I mean just got out. God performed all of those miracles and especially Passover. What a great miracle that was. God came through Himself that night and the firstborn of the children of Israel was saved by the blood and they Man, those people said, go, get out of here.

And when they was going, they threw all their gold at them. Can you imagine that? They were slaves. They had one piece of cloth and some shoes and that's it. And all of a sudden, everybody in the whole city throwing gold at you. Getting you out of there.

And so they're marching along, they're all happy until God put them at the Red Sea. Remember, God put them at that Red Sea, pinned them in a corner. deserts to the right, mountains to the left, the sea was in front of them, and oh, here comes Pharaoh behind them. Now who put them there? God did. When you're hemmed in, who put you there? God did. What's the first thing they said?

Oh, I wish we'd just died in Egypt. It was so much better over there! That's complaining, isn't it? It was so much better back then. Remember that? When you say that? Oh, I wish I was back there. That's complaining. That's murmuring. But the mercies of the Lord are still firm and true. There they were on the bank complaining, and you know what God said?

God said, just stand still. Instead of complaining, just stand still. Watch, wait, wait on the Lord. It is good that in verse 26 of our text, he says, it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait on the salvation of the Lord. So what do we do in our afflictions? Instead of murmuring what? Wait. Trusting the Lord. Wait. Believing on Christ, wait, looking diligently to Him for salvation. Stand still. God says, I don't need your help. I don't need your help. Just wait a minute. Wait a minute.

So in the midst of our trials, are you perplexed as I am? Are you cast down as I am? Do you find yourself murmuring in the midst of your distress? I do. So the question comes, do you believe on the Son of God? Has His work satisfied the wrath of God to save you? Has He quickened you to life? Is God not pleased with His righteousness? When you're in trouble, ask those questions. Do I believe on the Son of God? Is His work successful? Is His work victorious? Am I made acceptable to God? And what does the believer say?

I believe in His work. I trust in Him. Oh, yes. I don't doubt Him. It's me that I have trouble with. I like Asa. Me and him, we... He's a mirror image of me. He said, you know, my foot had nigh well slipped. He said, I know God's good to Israel, but ask for me. But ask for me. So often we are tempted to murmur and complain instead of just standing still. See, faith in Christ is the best remedy for complaints. Faith in Christ is the best remedy for complaints.

Tell me, O living man, what have you lost in this life that you're not going to lose anyway? Have you lost anything in this world that you're not going to lose anyway? What are you gonna be able to keep? You know, I drove, I have to go back this back way now. So I drive by that cemetery a lot. And I look at those dates, I look at the dash in between. Whatever that number was in between, what'd they keep at the last number?

What do they got? What are you going to have? Nothing. Nothing. Have you lost houses and lands? Have you lost loved ones and family? Have you lost wealth and health? But you that believe in Christ, you living men, what have you really lost? If you have Christ, don't you have everything? He who owns all things, controls all things. You know, the scripture says, I am His. I like that. I mean, there's no hope for me unless I'm His. But get this, the scripture also says this, He's mine. Just as much as I belong to Him, He belongs to me. Is that not the most astounding Word of grace?

So what have you lost? If we have Christ, we've lost nothing. Matter of fact, our Lord told us that we should lose everything. He said this in Luke chapter 14, If any man come after me, and hate not his father and mother, his wife and his children, his sisters and his brothers, and yes, his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. In verse 33 of that chapter, he said, Likewise, whosoever be that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Have we said anything above Christ? See, the living man understands that Christ is all. And so what do we naturally do? We set aside all that's beneath him. We that believe in him, have you not set aside self-righteousness as any hope and self-righteousness? You set that aside, you cut that off. We, by faith, we cling to Christ alone. And by doing so, what do we do?

We forfeit all things. We forfeit all things. Christ is said to have the preeminence in our minds, in our hearts, in our bodies, in every part of our life, Christ is to be preeminent. Seeing then if God has given us the greatest gift of His Son, how shall then He not freely with Him give us all things?

How then can we think so little of our God's goodness and love in a time of distress? We do. That's what murmuring and complaining is. It is thinking little of God's goodness and little of His power. To complain of our providence and circumstances of our lot We are complaining that somehow God, this is either outside of God's power or that God has designed some evil. Simply put, to complain of our lot is nothing less than unbelief.

So then, if God has chosen you, If Christ has offered himself upon the cross and suffered the wrath of God in your stead and then sent his spirit to quicken you and give you life and promises to keep you, why does the living man complain? What do we really have to complain about? Secondly, why does the living man complain if God is sovereign? Isn't that inconsistent?

If we believe in the sovereignty of God in all things, then to complain is inconsistent with that belief. Remember, living man, that all happens happens by the sovereign will of God. In Isaiah 46, you remember God separates himself from false gods by this one distinguishing factor, sovereignty. He says those false gods, they have eyes, they have lips, they have feet, they got hands. But you know what?

They can't talk. They can't see. They can't move. They have no ability to do anything. This is what God says. He says, I am God and there is none else, there's none like me. Here's the distinguishing factor, Isaiah 46 in verse 10, declaring the end, when?

From the beginning. From ancient times of things not yet done. Now there's a lot of things, if God give us breath and life as we leave this building, there's a lot of things not yet done. You know what? God says even those things not yet done. From ancient times of things that's not yet done, saying this, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. I wrote this down.

Brother Fortner said this a long time ago. He said, there's absolutely no difference between the denial of God's sovereignty and the denial of his being. In other words, if you deny the sovereignty of God, you're just denying God exists. He says, Arminianism is neither more nor less than religious atheism. That's what it is. Why? because they deny the sovereignty of God.

But you living man, you do not deny the sovereignty of God. You know by the grace of God that God has chosen you through sovereign election of grace. You know that Christ died for you according to His sovereign love and mercy. You know the Spirit came to you in sovereign power and grace to give you life and faith. You know you wouldn't be saved if it wasn't for sovereign grace. I love this. When God called you, he didn't leave it up to you, did he? He didn't leave it to chance, did he?

There was a lady one time came to Rolf Barnard. She says she was Methodist lady. She said, I know the difference between me, your religion and mine. It's just a matter of election. And she said, but I don't understand election. Rolf just simply said, well, did God save you on accident or on purpose? He said, well, on purpose, he said, well, you believe election. God saved you on purpose. So why is it when we believe that salvation is by the sovereign grace of God, when something bad happens to us, all of a sudden our our thoughts of God's sovereignty go out the window. As though this took him by surprise.

And so this wasn't meant for us. And what do we do? We complain. We complain. Oh, living man, God does not make mistakes. Whatever is taking place in our life is according to the sovereign hand of God. Therefore, the question remains, oh, living man, why do you complain? If God has saved you, and God is sovereign in all things, then why did the living man complain?

God's will is going to be accomplished. Now I'm going to give you this, God's will. What is God's will? You hear this in religion all the time, right? What is God's will for my life? They want a fortune teller, that's what they want. But I know exactly what the will of God is because God tells me what it is. Look at Jeremiah chapter 32. So listen, in the very teeth of your afflictions, in the very difficulties of your afflictions, you can know what the sovereign will of God is. Regardless of the circumstance or the situation, God declares to us very plainly what he has willed. Look what he says. We've experienced this.

Jeremiah 32. Let's begin in verse 37. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in my great wrath, and I will bring them again to the place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. Oh, there's the moment of our calling, right? Didn't He fulfill that? He called you. He said, I'll gather you. You were scattered, dead, and He gathered you. That was His will. Now look at this. And they shall dwell safely.

And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Now, what providence is going to change that? What difficulty is going to change that? What affliction, what sickness, what sorrow, what grief is going to change that? You know the sovereign will of God is this. You're my people and I will be your God regardless of the circumstances. Matter of fact, all the circumstances lead to that. Now look at this. I will give them one heart in one way.

Isn't this astounding that we are all given the same nature? And we all have the same nature by birth, don't we? Adam's nature. Well, guess what? In the new nature, we all have the same nature. It is the nature of Christ. Isn't this wonderful that I'm glad because I know you're better than I am. So I'm glad that your righteousness that he gives you is the same he gives me. It's the same. That's glorious. His blood that cleansed you cleansed me. He said, I'll give them one heart and one way. Don't we all go to heaven the same way? By Jesus Christ.

And he says that, now this is his purpose, that they may fear me forever for the good of them. God says my purpose is that you should reverence me and that's good for you. Now you begin to see what these afflictions are for. You begin to see what these trials are for. He gives you a new heart and a new way, but in these afflictions, what is He doing? He said, I'm going to cause you to keep reverencing Me. Have you ever found that out, when everything's nice and smooth, how we fade out? how the gospel just seems to be put in a corner.

Like that Shulamite bride, remember? In chapter four of Song of Solomon, she's all for the Lord coming. She says, oh come, oh come! Come north wind, come south wind, come trouble, come pleasure, whatever, just come! And the very next place we see her in bed, asleep. Everything's pleasant, everything's well, and what? He curls up and goes to sleep. That's us. Everything's well. But you remember when he came and knocked on the door, she refused to get up. Isn't that what we do? And then when he leaves, what do we do? We complain. We complain.

He says, I'll fake you fear me for the good of them and for their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and I will not turn away from them to do them what? What is He not going to turn away from? What is His will in every providence, in every situation, in every circumstance, God says, I will do them good.

Wait a second, that don't, it don't feel good. How can this be that it's good? God doesn't tell you how it's going to work together for good. Instead of complaining, why not just trust Him? Why not just trust His will? This is His will. He's telling you His will. I'm not going to turn away from you. When has He ever turned away from you to do you good? When? He has never turned away.

And if that's how you feel, it's because you're busy complaining and not believing. I know we get that way. I'm not saying believers can't. We can get so caught up in our fears and our troubles and our difficulties and our woes that we fail to see that God is doing this for our good and our benefit.

But I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from me." Is that not good? That's his will. His will is this, you should never leave me. How many times you fear that you're going to leave? That's a fear that runs through my soul. I know what those disciples felt that night when he said, one of you is going to betray me. And they all began to ask, and they were sincere. Was it me? Am I going to be the one? My hope is his will is this, his sovereign will.

I will not have you depart from me, ever. Yes, I will rejoice over you. You ever had somebody just gripe and complain all the time, and you just get tired of trying to do good for them? You want to. God says, I'll never get tired of you to do you good. Matter of fact, I'm gonna rejoice over you to do you good. How can that be? Because of Christ. That's how it could be. Only because of Christ, God says, I'm gonna rejoice over you to do you good.

And so then, why does the living man complain seeing God as sovereign? Let me not talk of the sovereignty of God and then complain of my lot in life. It is totally inconsistent with faith. I'm going to have to move real quick on this last one here. I got two more things, but I'll just mention them. Living man do not complain at the chastening hand of God. Do not complain at the chastening hand of God. Look back at your text real fast. He said, why did the living man complain?

A man for the punishment of his sins. Now we know this, that he's not talking about the punishment of his sins because God's children will never pay the punishment for sin. That's already been paid. Christ paid our sin debt once and that was done. But this is talking about chastisement.

When God's chastening hand comes upon us, when we fail and we fall and we are complaining and miserably murmuring of our lot in life, and God comes and chastens us, how are we to take that? He's saying, look, why should a living man complain about chastisement? Why? Because chastisement is something the Father does for a son. Remember, Paul said this in Hebrews 12, he said, Don't despise the chastening hand of the Lord.

You know, some of our afflictions come and they're not chastisement, they're like Job. Sometimes afflictions come because God has a purpose for us to grow, but other times afflictions come and they're because of our sin, because we are being chastened. What are we to do with this? Are we to murmur and complain at God's chastisement?

No. Why? Because this is proof that I'm his son. He said, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you're rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loveth what is due. He chastened every son whom he receiveth. So what is the living man to do in the midst of chastisement? Are we to murmur at his chastening hand? Or are we to be thankful? I know that that's not the first inclination of the flesh, is it? When the chastening hand comes, Paul said, no chastening at the present seemeth what?

Joyous. I remember it was John Powers. John Powers, remember this church a long time ago? He came to me one time after service, and he was so downtrodden. He said, you know what, pastor, I see all these people on television, he's watching the Gaithers or something like that, you know, a singing program. And they all just smile and they're all so happy and all so joyous. And he just said, man, I don't ever feel like that. I said, John, don't worry about those people. Those people are fakers, man. They're just fakers.

God's people suffer and we suffer the chastening hand of God. But I tell you this, thank God for it. What would you be like if he didn't chasten you? Praise God for his chastening hand that keeps us and draws us as a father chastens his children. He loves and scourges every son that he receives to himself. Oh, living man, don't complain at his chastening hand.

And so, lastly, what is the remedy? Look back at your text. I'll give you the remedy. Here it is in verse 40. He said, let us search and try our ways and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens. What is it that is the remedy? It is to search and try our ways. I think it better make your calling and election sure. Is there anything more important than that? Is there anything more important?

And how are we going to do that except we go to the Word of God? And as we go to the Word of God, what are we doing? We're seeking comfort, aren't we? I mean, instead of complaining, we can bring our petitions to God. We can bring our requests to God. instead of murmuring against him, recognize his sovereignty, recognize his chastening hand, and bring our petitions to God. How are we going to receive any comfort in that unless we know that God would receive our word, our prayers? Where are you going to find that at? You'll find it here. Search God's word. Have you ever searched out God's love in the midst of your trials? If you're in trouble, one of the best things to do is search out God's love. How much does God love you? Answer that. Can you answer that? Can you find a legitimate answer?

If we with ink the ocean fill, and of the skies were parchment made, where every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky."

You can't find the end of God's love. There was no beginning. God never had a beginning of His love for you, and He'll never have an end of His love for you. Search that out in the midst of your trials. And the proof is what? He sent His Son. Here in His love, not that we love God. You ain't gonna find the love of God in here. Religion tells you that's where you've got to find the love of God in here. You won't find the love of God in here. The only place you're going to find the love of God is He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Search out the love of God. Search out the covenant of God. Have you ever looked at His covenant? How firm is His covenant? When God swears something, how firm is that?

What could change it? Tell me something in time that would change God's eternal covenant. Name one thing. One thing that will change it. Nothing. It was purposed in eternity. It was ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ and nothing can change it. Search that out in the midst of your afflictions. Search out the righteousness of Christ. How righteous is Christ? Why is that? Was that important? That's because however righteous he is, is how righteous I am. He's made me and gave me his righteousness.

Search that out. And where are you going to find all these things? You only find them in the word of God. You won't find them anywhere else, will you? So what's a remedy for instead of complaining? Search out. Search, try your ways, see if you're in the faith. How you gonna know that except by the word of God? In other words, look to Christ.

You that believe, you living man, how did you begin this journey? You began by faith. God gave you faith and you believed. How are you going to finish this journey? You're going to finish it the same way you began it, by faith. You live by faith, looking to Christ every day, trusting in Him. So then, if God chose you only by His mere grace, no merit in you, if Christ died for you and then came and gave you life, promises to keep you, do you good all the days of your life, and swears to it, why doth the living man complain? God keep us from complaining and murmuring. It's inconsistent. Why? Because God's sovereign. God's sovereign. The providence we're in, God put us here. And not for our good.

Why does the living man complain? May God help us to not murmur. Yes, bring your petitions to God, but not murmur against his providence and his grace. Pray God will bless us. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Mitch, would you dismiss in a prayer, please? Lord, gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for this Word that you have given us. Pray that you would make us to believe your Word. Make us to believe your promises. Lord, stop our unbelief. Stop us from our worry. Let this look only to Christ, our salvation.

We ask that you would be, with your shortness to not disclose a thing, proclaim your word. That you would have the liberty and the power to glorify Jesus. We ask that you would allow us to go out of this world and proclaim the mighty voice that is raised upon the cross. I'm afraid if you can, may I also come?