Our text will be from Romans
chapter 15. But before we go there, I want
you to join me in looking at some other places in God's Word
as we work our way to Romans 15. Talk about some bad news in order
to appreciate even more the good news that we read there in Romans
15. What I mean by that is, for example,
Matthew chapter 24. I would appreciate it if you
read it with me. Matthew 24, verses 11 and 12. One of the first things our Lord
said concerning his answer to the disciples' questions about
the destruction of Jerusalem and In his coming and the end
of the world, three questions, he gave three answers. People
mixed them all up. But one of the chief things he
mentioned that really would have been applicable to all three
of those things is this. Verse 11, and many false prophets
shall rise and shall deceive many. Only a blind person doesn't
see that happening today. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold." Because iniquity, sin, ungodliness,
because it abounds on every hand, the love of many shall wax cold. How does that happen? Well, the
answer is there, isn't it? How does the love of many wax
cold? Our Lord said it's because iniquity
abounds. Brother Don, I was of course
interested in what he would say about that verse of scripture,
so in his commentary on this book, Matthew, discovering Christ
in Matthew, this is what he said on that verse. When iniquity
abounds among those who profess to be followers of Christ, and
those who once appeared to burn with love and zeal for his name
have become altogether indifferent to it. Let us seek the company
and companionship of those who yet seek to honor our master,
lest we be drugged by the poison that is in the hearts of the
apostate. One of the first signs of apostasy
according to the scripture is the forsaking of the assembling
of ourselves together. so thankful that you chose not
to do that. As far as iniquity abounding,
as our Lord taught, on every hand, I think we probably saw
an example of that this past week or so concerning the hearings
for that Lady Amy Barrett whom the President chose to fill the
seat to be the ninth Supreme Court judge. Now, I know she's
Catholic. I don't have anything in common
with her theology whatsoever. But it will still serve as a
point about iniquity. She's been severely denounced,
hasn't she? If you watched any of the hearings,
she was denounced by many, perhaps most, perhaps the majority, including
those that are supposed to represent the citizens. And the reason
she was, was not because she's immoral. No. Because she is. Because she seems to have some
degree of morality. The problem they're scared to
death about is that she might be the deciding vote to make
the murder of unborn babies illegal. That's the problem. They want
that to continue, abortion. They wanted to continue all the
way up to the moment of birth. They've got a problem with her
because of that. They're also very upset. If you
watched any of the hearings, this subject, this disgusting
subject kept coming up again and again. They're afraid that
she might not be 100%. 100% endorse, agree with, and promise
to continue to uphold the rights of the, let me see, LGBTQ community. They've just about gone through
the whole alphabet, haven't they? They had issues with her because
of those two ungodly things. Can you remember, can you remember
when Those things were looked upon as horrible, despicable. You remember that? There was
a time that they were. They were only whispered about
in private. But because iniquity shall abound,
there's the danger. Gradually, gradually, we've become
complacent about that, indifferent about it, not bothered about
it at all. Babies being murdered, sodomites
parading down the street, we don't even bat an eye at it anymore. See, that's the danger. That's
the danger. I'm sure, I'm certain, that's
what our Lord is speaking of. Because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. Love grows cold for our fellow
man, love for the worship of God, Where are those people that
once came? Love for the people of God. Not
even interested in how we're doing down there. Don't care. Grown cold in their love for
the gospel of God and for the Son of God. Man, God forbid,
Billy, God forbid. God keep me on my guard. Don't
let that happen to me. You remember what our Lord said
to the church at Ephesus? He praised them for much, but
he said, we've got a problem. Nevertheless, I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Now let
me encourage you, please, the day's bulletin has got some very
important, deals with some important issues. And Mr. John Gill has
a very good, I'm almost tempted to read it with you to make sure
that you do. But I won't. And I don't want
you to now. But hold on to it. He deals with
this very issue about the love of many waxing cold. And he described
his day. It is even more so what he said
there concerning our day. In Mark's account of what we
read from in Matthew 24, our Lord said this. Mark 13, verses
33 through 37. Again, answering the disciples'
questions. He said, take ye heed, watch
and pray, for you don't know when the time is. For the Son
of Man is a man taking a far journey, who left his house and
gave authority to his servants. and to every man his work, and
commanded the porter to watch. Watch you therefore, for you
know not when the master of the house cometh, even at evening,
or at midnight, or at the clock crowing, or in the morning, lest
coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And he said, what I say unto
you, I say unto all, watch, watch. Peter says, watch, child of God.
You have an adversary, the devil, walking about seeking whom he
may devour. Watch. Be careful. And our Lord
said the same thing again and again, didn't he? Standing on
the tiptoe of faith, keep your eyes, your face toward heaven,
toward glory, toward our soon-coming Redeemer. Again, Brother Don,
in his commentary on Matthew, Concerning verse 13 of Matthew
24, the verse is this, But he that shall endure until the end,
the same shall be said. Folks say, well how do you square
that with God's sovereignty? Don't need to. Child of God,
we're responsible. We're responsible to God. We're
responsible to obey Him. We're responsible to seek His
face. We're responsible to pray for
grace and mercy. Lead us not into temptation.
We're responsible to do that. Ask Peter. Peter, because God
is sovereign, does that make you less responsible to be on
your guard? Oh, no, no, no, Peter would say.
And he went to his grave regretting not paying attention when his
Lord said, Peter, watch and pray. Watch and pray. And he didn't. And a short time later, he was
cursing and denying that he even knew Jesus Christ. Watch and
pray. Don on that verse says, concerning
he that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved.
He said, we must persevere and endure all these things in faith. Though tempted and tried and
persecuted and troubled by many things, we must persevere. We
must continue looking to Christ. If we are truly His, we shall. That's the good news. Grace will
keep us still. Those who are born of God must
and shall persevere. They will continue in the faith
of Christ. God's elect both believe and they keep on believing. The
true believer begins in faith, he lives in faith, and he dies
in faith. True faith never quits. The Word of God is very clear
in this matter. Only those who continue in the
faith shall enter into glory. One more place before we come
to our text in Romans 15. 1 Thessalonians 5. I want you to look at it with
me. 1 Thessalonians 5, verses 4 through
8. This is along the same line,
verse 4, 1 Thessalonians 5. But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are
the children of light and the children of the day. We are not
of the night nor of darkness. Therefore, that being the case,
Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and
be sober. For they that sleep sleep in
the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But
let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." The hope
of salvation. Now that brings us to our text
here in Romans chapter 15. Just one verse. Romans 15 verse
13. Now, now, oh I pray that God
would do it right now. Now the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope through
the power of the Holy Ghost. The God of Hope. That's the title of my message. There's the safeguard against
those things we read previously. That's the remedy for a love-grown
cold. Look again. Oh, look back again at the God of Hope. The one that
first gave you hope when you didn't have any. Remember? And you thought, oh, there's
no hope for a wretch like me. And God gave you hope. Because
not only is He the God of hope, we read in scripture, He's the
God of all grace. The God of all grace. First consider
this phrase, the God of hope. Where else would we start? Like
the book of Genesis. Genesis, the word means beginning.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And
what's true of the natural creation is true of the spiritual creation,
God's spiritual creation. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
2 Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. That should have been. He's a
new creation. That's how it should read. Old
things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. God did that. The same God who
said, let there be light. The same God who created the
heavens and the earth. That's the same God. By the power
of His Holy Spirit forms Christ in you the hope of glory. And bless His name, He that's
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. He'll never stop. He's the God
of hope. Whatever God Almighty puts His
hand to, puts His name to, is a sufficient enough reason to
demand our competence and our trust. Who's doing the work? Tell me who's doing the work.
That will determine the measure of my hope and my confidence. God. God. Put your finger on
any aspect, any part of salvation. It's God's work. Salvation's
of the Lord. That gives me hope. That gives
me this sinner hope. Look at verse 4 here in Romans
15. 15 and 4, for whatsoever things
were written aforetime, in the Old Testament, were written for
our learning, that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures
we might have hope. Look what God did for them. God
does the same for all of His people. He'll never forsake any
of His people. Again, from the Psalms, Psalm
132, verse 2. Oh, I love this verse. There's
a lot in this. Psalm 138 and 2. This is God
speaking. David says, I will worship, rather,
David says, I will worship toward thy holy temple, speaking of
God, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy
truth. Listen to this. Concerning that
truth, God's truth, thou, God, hast magnified thy word above
all thy name. Man, what does that mean? That's
a mouthful, isn't it? God has magnified His Word above
His name. This is one, commentator said,
this is one of those expressions of Scripture that seems so comprehensive. It's beyond me. So amazing. To
my mind, it is one of the most remarkable expressions in the
whole book of God. Thou hast magnified Thy Word
above all Thy name. Now remember, the name of God
includes all the perfections of God, everything that God is,
and which God has revealed Himself to be. A God of justice, majesty,
holiness, greatness, glory. Whatever He is in Himself, that
is God's name. His name means those things,
and yet, We read that He has magnified something above His
name. Isn't that remarkable? What is
it? His Word. His Truth. What God had done for David made
His faithfulness to His Word appear all the more illustrious,
didn't it? David says, I know that's true. I've experienced it. I know God's
promises are sure because He's kept them to me all of my life. God will never go back on His
word, will He? Imagine if He should ever do
that. He would have to step down from the throne. If His word
should fail in one time, one time, anywhere, with anybody,
that He would cease to be God. He's magnified His word. His
truth above even His name. For example, if I should get
a check in the mail. Robin got one the other day.
I went to the mailbox and got it and I could tell, you know,
it's got that little window you can see, I could tell that was
a check. But it was only for $10, so I gave it to her. If I get a check in the mail,
If it's from somebody that I know is a cheat, John, I'm not even
going to bother to cash it. I get emails from time to time,
somebody from another country says they talk really religious
and say, I've inherited $2 million, and Reverend Chris, I'd like
for you to help me spend it. You ever get those? I just click,
click, delete, delete. But if I get a check in the mail,
and it's got Terry Hogue's name on it, I'm going to the bank.
I know Terry. I trust Terry. And I believe
that check's going to be good. Listen, children of God, none
of God's checks have ever bounced, have they? They've never bounced. If God wrote it, he'll stand
by it. He'll stand by it. His honor
is at stake to do it. When Robin and I were in Danville
a few weeks ago when I preached there, at Grace Baptist Church,
we stayed with Mark and Regina Henson. And one afternoon, I
think it was Sunday afternoon after service, Robin and Regina
were out somewhere. And Mark and I were sitting,
talking, and he said, Larry, how many people do you know?
How many men have you had in your life that you could really
count on? I mean, you could count on them.
He said, Larry, I can count them on the fingers of one hand. And
he said, I've got an uncle. This man's in his 90s, and he's
dying. Mark visits him all the time. But old Mark admires that
man. He said, all my life, anything
that man told me, I could count on. He's never, never went back
on his word. His Word means something. He
stands by it. Child of God, you can take God
at His Word because it means something to you, because it
means something to Him. He'll honor His Word. There's
consolation for a believer as he makes his way through this
world in the Word of God alone. Don used to tell me during difficult
times, Larry, And I reminded Shelby of this. Bury yourself
in God's Word. Just bury yourself in God's Word.
That's all I can tell you. You'll find comfort there and
more than anywhere else. For example, how much will this
sweet promise be to my soul when I'm leaving this world and going
out into eternity? How sweet will a promise like
this be from God's Word. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you
are with me. Thy rod and thy staff will comfort
me. You can take that to the bank.
It won't bounce. The word of promise made to David
was in his eyes more glorious than all else that he had seen
of the Most High God. You can count on it. Those Psalms,
that's what David's telling us. You can count on God. He'll never,
never break His promise. The work which His goodness began,
the arm of His strength will complete. His promise is yea
and amen and never was forfeited yet. I can just fall back on
that, can't you? Like a big comfortable mattress,
just fall back and rest. in the arms of my ever-faithful
God. Psalm 33, 23 verses 23 and 24,
O love the Lord, all ye saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful,
and punctifully rewardeth the proud doer. Be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the
Lord. Psalm 39, verse 7, Now this is
in contrast to those David spoke of in the world, grabbing, as
they say, all they can get. But David says, not me, not me. Verse 7 of that Psalm, 39, And
now, Lord, what wait I for? What wait I for? My hope is in
Thee. My hope is in Thee. My hope is
in my God. Let the world have the world.
My hope is in thee. Psalm 130, verses 5 through 8. I wait for the Lord, my soul
doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the
Lord more than they which watch for the morning. I say, more
than they that watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the
Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous
redemption. and he shall redeem Israel, his
church, his people, from all his iniquities." Oh, how we ought
to reference God's Word. It is beyond all the revelations
of creation or providence, because it's more clear, is it not? It's more sure, God's Word. It's more sovereign. It's more
complete, unique. It's more lasting. And it's more
glorifying to God than the creation we observe out there. Lamentations
chapter 3. This is the words of a man who
had suffered greatly, Jeremiah, in a pit. Cast in there. Lamentations 3, listen to this.
This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's
mercies that we're not consumed because His compassions fail
not. That's what we sang a moment
ago. They are new every morning, great is thy faithfulness. The
Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I hope in
Him. The Lord is good unto them that
wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. It is good that
a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God. That's a good testimony, isn't
it? That's so much better than popping nerve pills and pacing
back and forth and, oh, what's going to happen? God's on the
throne. Just quietly hope and wait for
Him. Here's the second thing in our
text. The God of hope gives hope to His people. Now, the God of
hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may
abound in hope. In hope. God is the foundation of our
hope. He's the fountain of our hope.
And there is a constant supply, always flowing to His people. Never runs dry. Never runs dry. Always fresh. Always overflowing. Isn't that what our Lord taught? All ye that thirst, come unto
me and drink. It'll be like a well of water
springing up, springing up to everlasting life. Robin, yesterday
evening, I'd been working about all day, took a break. And she
said, what's your subject tomorrow? And I said, the God of hope.
She said, well, there'll be no end to that. Now she didn't mean
I'll go too long. She just meant that's a subject
that is impossible that one message can ever cover. Thank God that's
true. There'll be no end to that. The
hope that God gives his people, there'll be no end to that. God
gives hope. We hope in him. We hope in his
word. We hope in his promise. And we
hope in his power, his ability to fulfill that promise. Verse
Peter chapter 3 verse 15, Peter says, but sanctify the Lord God
in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man
that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness
and fear. I remember years ago, some religious
people, for whatever reason, did a survey in West Virginia. West Virginia is usually on the
bottom of the list for anything good. They thought this was good. They did a survey asking the
question, are you a Christian? Are you a Christian? John, 75%
said yes. Wow, I've lived there all my
life. I couldn't find 10%. About 15%
said, well, I think that I am. That left 10%. But if those same people were
asked to give a reason, not just are you a Christian, but to give
a reason for their hope, oh, how different that survey would
have been. Romans 4 tells us here, in the
book of Romans, the story of Abraham and the promise that
Sarah would bear a son to Abraham, Isaac, the son of promise. verses
18 through 21 of that chapter, Romans 4. Speaking of Abraham,
who against hope, verse 18, believed in hope? Who against hope believed
in hope? That he might become the father
of many nations according to that which was spoken. So shall
thy seed be. That was what God said. And being
not weak in faith, Abraham considered not his own body now dead, when
he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb. He staggered not, oh I like that,
he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but
was strong in faith, giving glory to God. He glorified God in his
faith in God's Word, in his faith in his God, and being fully persuaded
that what God had promised, God was able to perform. There was
Abraham, we read in verse 18, who against hope believed in
hope. Against hope. That means all
things natural. All the arguments of sense, of
reason, experience, they were all arguments against why Abraham
should not believe the promise. It was contrary to nature. Abraham, after all, you're a
hundred years old, man. Are you out of your mind? Your
wife's 90 years old. How long have you been waiting
for this? How long has it been since God
made that promise? Abraham, give it up. It's never
going to happen. Forget about it. Nobody will
blame you if you do. And there stands Abraham. He
doesn't even stagger. There he stands, an old man,
an old wife. Abraham, what are you doing?
And he answers, I'm believing my God. That's what I'm doing.
I believe what he promised me is going to happen. There's nothing
too hard for God. Oh, what a glorious testimony.
That's how Abraham glorified God. What a picture of God's
grace. Abraham had no reason to expect
that Sarah would bear him a son except this, God said so. And Abraham says, that's all
I need. That's all I need. That's enough. Verse 17 of Romans
4, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations
before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the
dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were. God gives his people hope. And
that hope rests on the most certain foundation a sinner can have.
God's word. God's promise. 2 Thessalonians 2, you know this
well. Verse 15, therefore, therefore. And the few verses before that
tells us what is therefore. Because God chose you to salvation. because God called you by the
gospel, because God wills you obtain glory with His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast
and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether
by word or epistle. Now the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and God, even our Father, who has loved you and has given us
everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, that's the
only hope that a sinner has. There's no other hope of standing
before a holy God except the hope of grace, on the foundation
of grace, and that grace is in the person of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's why we sing. My hope is
built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare
not trust the sweetest friend, but wholly lean, don't stagger,
Larry, wholly lean on Jesus' name. Oh, there are times when
darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale
my anchor holds. Why? Because it's within the
veil and he's holding it in his mighty hand. His oath is covenant's
blood. He'll support me in the whelming
flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my
hope and stay. On Christ a solid rock I stand.
Everything else is sinking sand. Last of all, let's pray that
the God of hope make us to abound in hope and live like people
that have such a hope. A few examples and I'll be done.
I like this one. Pete asked me about this a month
or two ago. I believe she likes this too.
In 2 Kings 6, you have the story of Elisha. The king of Syria
was warring against Israel. And every time he would set an
ambush for the king of Israel and his armies, God would reveal
that to Elisha. And Elisha would tell the king
of Israel, don't go that way. Syrians, their armies, they're
laying for you. So he wouldn't mind the prophet
of God. The king of Syria gathered his
men around and said, we've got a rat in the cap. One of you
all is a spy, and I want to know who it is. Who's telling the
king of Israel my plan? And someone said, it's not us.
We're all faithful to you, king. It's that prophet. It's Elisha.
He's revealing it to the king. The king said, well, where is
he at? Where's he at? Oh, he's down there in Dothan. Go get
him. Go get him. Bring him to me." Man, they brought
a whole host of chariots and horses and soldiers for Elisha
and his apprentice, a young man that was with him, like he used
to be with Elisha. In verse 14, we read this. When
the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth,
behold, A host came past the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him,
the servant said to his master, Elisha, Alas, my master, how
shall we do? It's all over now, Elisha. Elisha
answered him and said, fear not. Can you just imagine? Did you
imagine what that young servant thought? Fear not. Elisha, did
you not hear me? Did you not hear what I said?
Have you lost your mind? Fear not. And this was the reason. Elisha told his servant, fear
not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with
him. His servant scratched his head
and said, are you serious? And Elisha prayed. Lord, I pray
Thee, open his eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened the
eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. Matthew Henry made this comment.
The opening of our eyes will be the silencing of our fears.
In the dark, we are most apt to be frightened. The clearest
sight we have of the sovereignty and power of heaven, the less
we shall fear the calamities of this earth. Ye are of God,
little children, and have overcome them because greater is he that
is in you than he that is in the world." Another example,
the prophet Ezra. The scenario is this. Ezra and
the Jews are captive in Babylon. but they found favor with the
king. So he grants them permission to go up to Jerusalem. Ezra,
the prophet, the priest, leading the caravan, he grants them permission
to go to worship their God, to offer sacrifices there. And the
way from where they were to where they were going, they had to
go through Some hostile territory. Usually, when people traveled,
they would pay the king to give them an escort, a convoy, to
protect them on the way. And the king offered to do that
for Ezra. So let me give you an army to
protect you. You're going through some dangerous places. And Ezra
turned him down. What? What was wrong with that?
I mean, why wouldn't he accept it? Because he thought in accepting
the king's offer, he would be dishonoring his God. Because
he'd been bragging on God for a while. He'd been telling the
king about his God. And this is what we read. This
is Ezra speaking to the king, turning down his offer. I was
ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen
to help us against the enemy in the way, because we had spoken
unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for
good that seek him. We'll just trust him. We don't
have to go down to Egypt for help. We don't have to appeal
to Caesar for help. Not if we're looking to the King
of Kings, the Lord of Lords, and the mighty God. He'll deliver
us. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who shall be
against us? Let me give you one last illustration.
It's not from the Word of God. It's from the experience of your
pastor. What was it now? In 91? That year, I was in Danville,
Kentucky, looking for work. The place that I worked for in
West Virginia, I was laid off more than I was working. I talked
to my dear friend and pastor. He said, well, Larry, come on
down. I said, Don, I want a place to worship. I want a place I
have to make a living. He said, why don't you come down?
You can stay with Shelby and I. See what happens. In those
days, you could still go in and fill out a paper application.
Remember that? You could even talk to the boss
in person. Those days are gone. But, man, I worked hard looking
for work. I'd go from daylight to dark.
Someone would give me an address and say, I've heard these are
hard, and I was in Danville, and I covered all that area,
and I just kept broadening, reaching out further and further. Sometimes
I would get a call during that time that the company I worked
for in West Virginia needed me back. They'd have me work for
a day or two. And man, I'd have to drive all
the way back home because I was drawing unemployment. If you
didn't show up, they could cut that. And I couldn't afford that.
So I'd go back and work a day or two. And they'd say, OK, thanks.
Don't need you anymore. Lay off again. And I'd go back
to Kentucky. Man, I was pretty discouraged.
I was missing my family. And I remember reading one night
in John 6, the Lord asked Philip, Philip, where are we going to
buy bread for all these thousands and thousands to eat? And the
next verse said, this he said to prove him, for he himself
knew what he would do. Oh, God put that in my heart.
Larry, Jesus knows what he's going to do. This hunting for work went on
for a few months, and one day I was up in Lexington, Kentucky,
looking for a place, the address of a company someone had told
me about. And I got lost. I didn't have a GPS. I didn't
have a cell phone. And I poured into this parking
lot, and trying to get my bearings. I mean, like Don said, as lost
as a goose in a snowstorm. And I glanced over, and there
was a building. And it looked familiar, and it
was the employment services for the University of Kentucky. I
don't know how long ago it had been, but I had picked up an
application there and filled it out. Never had gone back yet
to turn it in. It was still in my car. And I
thought to myself, well, might as well turn it in. No sense
in this being a wasted trip, wasted gas. I'll just turn it
in. So I turned it in. When I got back to Don's house
that evening, sat down with him in his office, and I said, Don,
I think I've given this a pretty fair shot. I'm missing my family,
and I'm going to go home. This is in God's hands. I drove back to West Virginia.
The place had called me. They had another day or two of
work for me to do, so I went back there. And the secretary
came out and said, Larry, you got a phone call. She never did
that before. She didn't like me. She would
never let me know, or any of us, that we had a phone call.
But she said, Larry, you've got a call. So I went in and took
it. It was Don. Larry, that superintendent
at the plumbing shop is calling you, wants to get a hold of you.
They want to talk to you about being a welder. That's what I
applied for. Want you to call him right away?
Don said he don't know how he remembered the name of the place
I worked for. God brought it to his memory. And so I called
this man, talked to him over the phone. He wanted me to get
down there. I said, buddy, I can't. I can't do that. And he said,
will you accept the job over the phone? Will you accept it?
He said, that'll do. I said, yeah, yeah, I'll take
it. And that was on a Friday. I was to start work there on
a Monday. When I got down to Bob Poncer's, because I divided
up my time between his home and Don's, didn't want to wear out
my welcome. But when I got to Bob's house
Sunday evening, he came out and handed me the Lexington newspaper. On the headline it said, hiring
freeze at the University of Kentucky, first time in its history. It
went into effect that Friday. that that man had called me.
If he hadn't got him a welder in there then, he wouldn't have
been able to hire one. Because the fellow that had been
doing that for so many years was getting ready to retire. Jesus knows what he will do,
doesn't he? Oh, that he would fill us, as
the text says, with joy and peace and believing, that we may abound
in hope. We have every reason to, don't
we? because we serve and worship and trust the God of hope. Now in a song of grateful praise
to thee, O Lord, my voice I'll raise. With all thy saints I'll
join to tell my Jesus has done all things well. Everything. Everything that's ever happened
to me in my life, he's done well. How sovereign,
wonderful, and free has been thy love to sinful men. Thou
saved me from the jaws of hell, my Jesus has done all things
well. And when to that bright world
I rise to join the anthems in the skies, above the rest this
note shall swell, my Jesus has done all, all things well. God bless you.