Well, good morning. If you would
open your Bibles with me to Ephesians chapter three, we're going to
continue our study in Ephesians chapter three this morning. Before
we begin, let's bow before our Lord together in prayer. Our Father, we bow before you
this morning, thankful that we can come before the God of heaven
and earth and call you our Father. Lord, we know it's only because
of your amazing, adopting, regenerating grace, that sinful men and women
such as we are, as we are, could be called the children of God.
We come before our Father thankful, thankful that you are God above,
that you always do according to your will, in the armies of
heaven, among the inhabitants of the earth, and that none can
stay your hand, that your purpose is always done. God calls us
to be able as your children to rest in your sovereign, gracious
purpose for your people. Father, we pray this morning
that you would enable us to worship you in spirit and in truth. Father, don't let us meet in
vain, but meet with us. Enable us by faith to hear and
to see the Lord Jesus Christ in your word and to believe him,
rest in him, trust in him. Well, we pray for ourselves,
we pray especially for our children's classes at this time. Father,
bless richly, we pray. How thankful we are for the little
ones that you've given to us for just a short time. Father,
cause us to be faithful to them, to teach them Christ, to point
them to the Savior. Father, bless your people wherever
they are meeting together today to worship your name. Father,
bless for your great namesake in this dark and difficult day. Father, bless, cause your word
to shine forth in power, we pray. Father, for your people who are
in times of great trouble and trial, we pray for them. We pray
especially for the Morgan family, we pray for Dan That whole family,
this time of loss, that you comfort their hearts. Thankful for the
good report we've had in our brother, Earl, pray you continue
to heal and strengthen him, be with him in a special way. Others
who need you especially, Father, we pray that you unfold the riches
of your mercy and grace to them. And all these things we ask in
that name which is above every name, the name of Christ our
Savior. I've titled our lesson this morning,
Don't Quit in Trial. Our text is just one verse, Ephesians
3 verse 13, which begins with the word wherefore. Now whatever
it is that Paul says here in verse 13 is based upon what he
said previously. Let's go back to verse seven
and read up to this and see what Paul has been saying that leads
him to this word wherefore. Verse seven, Ephesians chapter
three. Whereof I was made a minister,
according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by
the effectual working of his power. Unto me, whom less than
the least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make
all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things
by Jesus Christ. Through the intent that now,
under the principalities and powers and heavenly places, might
be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God, according to the
eternal purpose, which he purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord, in
whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith
of him. Paul is saying, Christ has sent
me to preach the unsearchable riches of salvation by grace. It's in Christ Jesus. God's given
me this message of grace that every person ought to believe.
Salvation in Christ is so glorious. I want everybody that hears me
preach to believe on Christ, to rest in him. And he tells
us God's grace is so rich, it's so free, it's so far reaching
that God's made him a preacher to the Gentiles. God sent me
to preach Christ to those people who the religious Jews thought
were lost causes, were hopeless. That's who God's grace is for,
isn't it? The hopeless. Christ is the hope of the hopeless,
and that's who we're preaching. And Paul says, I want you to
believe Christ, to have boldness, and access to God, confidence,
because of the faith of Christ. The faithfulness of Christ to
do everything that it takes to save God's people. And since
that's my desire for you, that you believe Christ, that you
trust in Him, that you have boldness and confidence to trust Him,
that you have the confidence to hang your soul upon Christ,
since that's my desire for you. I don't want you to quit. I don't
want you to quit believing Christ. I don't want you to quit believing
the gospel, leave the gospel. He says in verse 13, wherefore
I desire that you faint not that you don't quit at my tribulations
for you, which is for your glory. Paul says, I want you to know
Christ. I want you to keep believing Christ. So I don't want you to
quit listening to me preaching and think the gospel that I preach
is of no use. just because I'm going through
these trials. And I would add, I don't want
any of us to quit trusting Christ, quit trusting the gospel, quit
believing the gospel because of a trial God sends our way.
You know, we'll think, well, this trial is just too much.
I'm just going to quit. This gospel is of no use to me. I
just quit. My earnest prayer for this congregation, for each
of you, is that you don't quit. I'm gonna give you several reasons
not to quit trusting in the Lord when he sends trials our way.
And we're gonna turn to a number of scriptures. I want you to
turn to them. So we learn what God's word has to say about this
subject. I don't just want you to think this is what Frank thinks,
this is what different theologians of the past say about this. I
want us to know what does God's word say about this matter of
trials that God sends to his children. Number one is this. Trials do not mean that someone
is suffering as an evildoer. Someone, I've heard this actually
said, someone might say, well, I'm not going to listen to this
preacher preach anymore because of what's happening in his life.
Maybe his family is falling apart. Maybe he or some of his loved
ones are suffering health issues. They're under extreme strain
or pressure from some trial in his life. And somebody might
say, God just wouldn't let that happen to him. unless he was
doing something wrong. He must be doing something wrong.
I'm just not going to listen to you. His family wouldn't be
suffering like that. If he was a better husband, a better father,
a better leader, God must be judging him. That's a pretty harsh, judgmental
and self-righteous way to look at a matter, isn't it? Look at
2 Timothy 2. Trials do not mean that a person is suffering as
an evildoer. Second Timothy chapter two, verse eight. Remember that Jesus Christ of
the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my
gospel, wherein in this gospel that I preach, I suffer trouble
as an evildoer, even under bonds, but the word of God is not bound.
Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they
may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory. Paul says, I'm suffering as an
evildoer for preaching the gospel to you, for preaching the gospel
to God's people. I'm suffering as an evildoer.
I'm not one. It's not evil to preach the gospel
of God's grace, is it? And Paul says, this trial doesn't
make me ashamed. Look at back one page, 2 Timothy
1. Verse 11, whereunto I'm appointed a preacher
and an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, for the which cause
I also suffer these things. I'm suffering these things as
I preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace to sinners.
Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed,
and I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Paul says, these trials don't
make me ashamed, because I know whom I believe. Look at 1 Peter
4. Peter says the same thing here.
1 Peter 4. Verse 12. Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some
strange thing happened to you, but rejoice insomuch as your
partakers of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory shall be
revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are you, for the spirit
of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part, he's evil
spoken of, but on your part, he's glorified. But let none
of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer
or as a busybody in other men's matters. If you're gonna suffer
as an evildoer, this is what Peter's saying, be sure you're
not one. You know, you can't just say any suffering. Well,
you know, be sure you don't deserve it. Now don't be an evildoer.
That's what he's saying. Yet verse 16, if any man suffers
a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this
behalf. So, so trials don't mean someone's
suffering is an evildoer. It actually is a reason for us
to glory. All right. Number two, don't
quit. Don't quit the gospel. Don't
quit trusting Christ because you think a trial God has sent
you is a punishment from God. I know when we suddenly find
ourselves in a trial, it feels like punishment. It feels like
it doesn't, but it's not. You don't quit listening to the
preacher because you think, well, he's suffering. God's punishing
him because he must be doing something bad. And also don't
quit because you think that the trial God has sent you is punishment
from God. and you think this is not fair,
I'm just gonna quit. I know of people, you do too,
who have just quit the gospel altogether when hard trials come
their way. Because they say, I can't trust
a God who's doing this to me. I know of a man who for many
years gave, looked like anyway, he loved the gospel of Christ,
he supported the gospel of Christ, And his daughter died suddenly.
And he became an atheist. And he said, I became an atheist
because there's no way God exists and this could happen to my daughter. Now I say that, I tell you that
story, that's a true story. I tell that story with a broken
heart, with tears. I have the utmost sympathy for
somebody who's in so much pain. And I think we ought to cut somebody
some slack when they say things wrong, when they're under that
kind of strain and heartbreak and pressure. But what we're
talking about here is quitting the gospel over it, is quitting
trusting Christ over it, to think that God does not exist because
this happened. Oh, you know, a good God would
not allow that to happen. Or to say, I can't trust a God,
he would do this to me. Let me tell you something. If
you're a child of God, one thing I can assure you is this. God's
not punishing you. He's not punishing you for your
sin. Our father will correct us, won't
he? He'll teach us, he'll send us trials to strengthen our faith,
but God never punishes his children. Never. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation,
no punishment ever for anybody who trusts Christ. And the reason
for it is this. Christ has already suffered for
the sin of his people as our substitute. He suffered for all
of the sin of all of his people, and he put it all away by his
precious blood. God's holy. God's just. He's not going to punish you
for the same sin that he punished his son for. He won't do it.
Now he'll teach us, he'll correct us, he'll wean us from this world,
but he's not punishing us for our sins. The believer's trials
are trials of our faith, of our faith. They're not punishments,
they're trials of our faith. And that brings me to the third
thing. Trials prove if we have genuine faith or not. Trials
reveal faith and strengthen faith. You know, when trials come, now
they're severe. If it's a trial and you say,
well, I got through this situation and it was no big deal, well,
then that wasn't a trial. Trials are hard. They're difficult. They try you. They're severe.
It could be physical. It could be mental. It could
be emotional. But whatever form they take,
I can tell you this, trials are severe. I use this example. Suppose there's a subdivision
of houses. They've been built in the same
subdivision, close together over time. And you know how they are.
They all kind of look alike, you know. From the outside, they
all look pretty similar. But we find out some of those
houses were built by good contractors who did things right. They used
the good materials. They didn't take any shortcuts.
They did things right. And some of the houses are built
by shady contractors. They didn't do a very good job.
Well, which houses were built by the good contractors and which
ones were built by the bad ones? you'll probably find out when
a storm blows through. The strong houses, the well-built
houses, they'll still be there after the storm. But the houses
built by the shady contractors, they'll fall flat one day. Now when trials come, houses
that are built on the sands of man's works, houses that are
built on the the sands of man's theology. Those things are going
to be blown over. And the Lord said, great will
be the fall of it. All those houses will go splat, as the
song says. But the house is built on Christ,
the solid rock. They'll stand firm because he
stands firm. Please understand, I'm never
saying trials make us so strong. We don't fall. No, what I'm saying
is the believer won't be moved because our rock won't be moved.
because Christ won't be moved. See, trials reveal whether or
not I know Christ, and I trust Christ, and I love Christ, or
whether I'm just religious and have some interest in religious
doctrine or religious things. You know, we've seen that. We've
had folks here do that. They come and they have an interest
in a new doctrine. This is a doctrine that they'd
never heard, a way of preaching that they'd never heard, but
the first time some trouble comes up. First time some difficulty
comes up. First time something comes up
they don't understand, they quit. Or maybe after a while they're
tired of this new doctrine, they hear something else that catches
their fancy. And they leave the gospel to go to that. Well, that's
a house built on sand. That's just a house built on
man's religious activity. But that will never happen. Never. If we're built on Christ. if
a person knows and loves Christ. The believer's interest and faith
and hope and confidence is in Christ. If he's your only hope,
you'll never leave him. You can't leave him. Look at
Psalm 94. If I only have some interest in doctrine,
if I only have some interest in religion, I want to know it now. I do. I want to know it now. I want
the Lord to reveal it to me now. So I, so I seek Christ now. That's
why I say trials reveal whether there's true faith or there's
not. Look at Psalm 94 verse 12. Blessed is the man whom thou
chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law. David says
the person who has tried of the Lord is blessed. Now you think, how can that be?
How can, how can suffering a trial be a blessing from God? Because
it reveals faith. It reveals whether or not I really
believe Christ and Lord sends something to me that confirms
to me, I believe Christ. I can get, I can give thanks
for it. I can call that a blessing. I now look back at Job chapter
23. Here's the fourth thing. Trials are sent to strengthen
our faith and to make our faith in Christ more beautiful. Job
23, verse eight. Now, everybody, you all know
the story of Job. Job's in a trial, isn't he? I
mean, this is a trial. And he says in verse eight, behold,
I go forward, but he's not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive
him. On the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot behold
him. He hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see. Oh, that's what makes the trial
so much worse. I can't find the Lord in me. I can't find him.
I can't find his presence for comfort, for direction, for leadership.
I can't find his presence. But, verse 10, he knoweth the
way that I take. When he hath tried me, I shall
come forth as gold. Trials, are hard to endure. They're heavy burdens to bear.
They strengthen our faith, just like lifting weights strengthens
our muscles. Jan and I have been watching
a show, one of the characters on the show. Man, this guy's
a brute. And Jan said, you know, I thought
I remember seeing him once. He's a skinny guy. And she looked
it up, and he was. He was just this skinny little
fella, you know. But for this part, you know, you need to have
some muscles. And man, he got to working out. I mean, this
guy's, wow. He didn't get that way by curling
five pound dumbbells. Now he's lifting some heavy weights. Trials, they're gonna strengthen
our faith. They're gonna have to be heavy.
They're gonna have to be hard. And here's how trials strengthen
our faith. They strengthen our faith by
teaching us how weak we are and how we need Christ for everything. For everything. We need Him to
do it all for me. He's got to save me. He's got
to keep me. He's got to preserve me. He's
got to lead me. He's got to feed me. He's got
to keep revealing Himself to me. And He's the one that's got
to glorify me. He's the one that's got to provide
for me. He's the one that's got to bring me through these things.
Trials teach me how weak I am and how dependent I am on the
Lord. Trials teach me that in His time, sure enough, the Lord
will provide. Trials teach me, sure enough,
the Lord can comfort my heart with His presence. I don't need
the storm to quit raging for my heart to be comforted. Trials
teach me I'd rather have the presence of Christ in my heart
than have the storm end, because that's how sweet he is to me.
Anything that teaches me to be more dependent on Christ, that's
what strengthens my faith. See, trials don't make us stronger
so we stand on our own. The next time that the trial
comes, you know, we can stand on our own. No, what strengthens
our faith is the next time the trial comes, we can say, I've
been here before. The Lord will provide. The Lord's
going to come. The Lord's going to be the one
to bring me through this thing. It makes me more dependent on
Christ. And the more dependent I am on
Christ, the stronger my faith is. And the more dependent I
am on Christ, the more I see myself as nothing. And the more
I see him as everything, the more beautiful my faith will
be. the more beautiful and more helpful my faith will be to you. So in that way, we can be thankful
for trials. They strengthen our faith and
make it more beautiful. All right, here's the fifth thing. Trials should not be surprising
to us. So we shouldn't be discouraged
when they come. Our Lord promised us, John 16,
verse 33, in the world, you shall have tribulation. How often do
we quote to end this world, you shall have tribulation. But the
Lord didn't end the sentence there. He says, but you be of
good cheer. I've overcome the world. I'm
going to provide for you. The world's not going to overcome
you because I've overcome the world. Now we know this. At least up here, we know this,
don't we? Every person in this room mentally knows this statement
that I'm about to make is a true statement. God is soft. He's sovereign over everything
in me. Nothing happens that's outside of His control, His dominion,
outside of His will. So when trials come our way,
who sent them? God did. The devil didn't do
it. God did. Oh, the Lord may have
allowed Satan to do it. He may have allowed means and
things, different things to happen. But when a trial comes our way,
I know this for a fact. Our Heavenly Father sent it. And He sends these things They're
not accidents, they're by His will, and they're for our good. They're for good to teach us
something. All things, all things, that's a pretty inclusive statement,
all things. What's included in all things?
Everything. Everything we call good, everything
we call bad. Everything we call significant,
everything we call insignificant. Everything we know about and
everything we don't know about, all things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to his purpose. Our trials work together for good, even when
we can't understand it and we can't see it. We can have faith
in this. Our God's working this together
for good. Look at Proverbs chapter three. Our trials work together for
the good of God's children. And you know what? God only sends
trials to his children. He only sends trials to his children.
He only corrects his children. He leaves everybody else alone.
I've been studying this week where the Lord wrestled with
Jacob there at Pentheel. One of the things some of the
writers point out is this. Now note this. Jacob, the Lord
came and he wrestled with Jacob. Scripture says Jacob prevailed
with with tears, weeping, and prayer. I mean, this is a tough
night for old Jacob. Tough night. But as far as good,
wasn't it? The Lord didn't wrestle, he saw.
The Lord only sends these trials, these corrections to our children.
Proverbs 3, verse 11. My son, despise not the chastening
of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. For whom the
Lord loveth, he chasteneth, even as a father the son in whom he
delighteth. Now, if the Lord only tries the
people that he loves, I can be thankful for trials in that way.
God wouldn't do this to me if he didn't love me, if he wasn't
correcting me as a father, the son that he cherishes. All right,
now look at Hebrews chapter 12. That brings me to the sixth thing. Trials are evidences. that we're
children of God. I'm sorry if I said, yeah, Hebrews
12, if I said 11, I'm sorry, it's Hebrews 12. And we just
read that in the book of Proverbs, the Lord only chastens, only
tries his children. Look at what the writer of the
Hebrews says here, Hebrews 12, verse five. And you've forgotten
the exhortation which speaketh unto you as children. My son,
despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint. Don't quit
when you're rebuked of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now, if
you endure chastening, God's dealing with you as with sons.
For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if you be
without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, whereof every
believer is a partaker, then are you bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we've had fathers
of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence, Shall
we not much rather be in subjection under the father of spirits and
live? And they barely for a few days chastened us after their
own pleasure, but he for our profit, that we might be partakers
of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous, but it's grievous. Nevertheless, afterward,
it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness under them that
are exercised thereby. Trials are evidence that we're
a child of God and God only tries his children and he does it for
their good. Because there's children, because
he loves them, he's teaching them. I remember growing up,
I mean, I can't tell you the number of times I got spanked. I mean, oh my goodness. Dad,
he was a tough nut now. I mean, he was a tough disciplinarian. And I did not like it. Now, it's one of the things I'm
the most thankful for. Teaching, teaching me. Now, everybody
in this world has difficulties, don't they? And you can't call
every difficulty that every person on the face of the planet has,
you can't call those things trials. They're difficult things that
just are the byproduct of living in a world of sin. But those
things that happen to different people, they have different effects
on different people. They have different effects on
the children than they do the bastards. Trials always cause
a child of God to draw nearer to the father. Trials make the
unbeliever mad at God and quit. That's exactly right. John said,
1 John 2 verse 19, They went out from us, but they were not
of us. For if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, that
they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. When
someone quits believing the gospel of grace, they quit trusting
Christ alone, and they start trusting something else. All
they prove, all that trial that was sent to them proves is this.
They never were a child in the first place. That's all proved. but trials draw God's children
closer to him. Trials make the children trust
God more fully. All right, now if you're still
there in Hebrews, look at, in chapter 12, here's the seventh
thing. Trials are the fertilizer for
the other graces. We just read it in verse 11.
And no chasing for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.
Nevertheless, afterward, it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness
under them that are exercised thereby. The peaceable fruit
of righteousness can only come through trial. Trial produces
that fruit. It makes it grow more. It's like
the prune of the tree makes the fruit grow, you know, more fruit
grow. But we can't say that until the trial's over. You can't say
it in the midst of it now. It's not until the trial's over.
Look back at Romans chapter five. Romans five, verse three. And not only so, but we glory
in tribulations also. I bet when somebody's first reading
this letter from Paul, they thought, wait a minute, what is Paul talking
about here? How can we glory in these painful tribulations?
Well he tells us, knowing that tribulation worketh patience.
And patience, experience, and experience hope. And hope maketh
not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Now notice
the chain of events there. First come tribulations, don't
they? First come trials. And that works patience, to teach
us to wait on the Lord. And that gives us experience,
and experience gives us hope. And that hope is not like, well,
I hope it'll happen, but I don't know. No, it's an expectation. Trials teach us, I have an expectation
that God will give me grace sufficient for this. It's just I have experience,
so I expect he's gonna comfort me. He's gonna be with me, and
he'll deliver me in his time. Now, in that way, We're thankful
for trial, not for the pain itself, but what it produces. And then
last, look at 2 Corinthians 1. Trials give us compassion for
others. 2 Corinthians 1. Paul here is speaking of the
father of mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforted us. in all our tribulation that we
may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort
wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. I tell you, nobody can
have compassion on you other than somebody that stood right
where you're standing. When you're going through something
and somebody says, I understand, and you know they mean it because
you know they've been through this very same thing. I tell
you, we would be unbearable if God never sent us trials to soften
us. So we'd have compassion when
somebody else is going through weakness and heartache and with
somebody else going through the same thing that the Lord's brought
us through, we can have compassion on them. I tell you, we can't
do anything to make the trial stop. We can't do anything to
make it, to bring it to an end. And we can't really truly comfort
somebody's heart. But don't think, go and tell
somebody, I know how you feel, and I love you. And you talk
to them about what you've been through. Here's what God did
for me in this. Boy, don't think that's not a
huge help. We need these trials to soften us so we have compassion
on others. And that way, if we can be more
compassionate with each other, Again, I'm not thankful for the
trial. All right, we're not thankful for the pain, not saying that,
but thankful for what it produces. All right, well, I hope the Lord
will bless that too.