I listened just briefly last
night to one of those interviews that's going on with President
Bush regarding his book that's coming out. And I didn't listen
much because I was looking forward to hearing a better interviewer
tonight. So I'm going to get done in time
to go home and listen to Mr. Hannity interview our former
president. The fellow last night I was listening
briefly to was one of those other fellows, and he was trying to
do his best to make Mr. Bush look pretty bad in some
of the decisions he made. And the president made a statement
similar to this. When you think about being president,
you know exactly how you will do things, but when you're pressed
with tough decisions that must be made right now, it's another
story. We seldom, seldom, if ever, are
able to make reasonable, right choices about anything in which
we are personally involved. If we can somehow pull ourselves
out of the situation, pull ourselves out of the trouble, pull ourselves
out of the darkness and look at it objectively as if we were
not personally involved, it'd help us a great deal in making
choices and decisions and forming our opinions about things. I'm
sure all of you have seen those pictures of the earth taken by
some of the satellites that NASA has put into our galaxy. And way out in the distance,
way out from the earth, take a picture of the earth. And it
reminds me of marbles I used to have when I was a kid. It
just looks like a marble, perfectly smooth, a little green, a little
yellow, a little blue, no hills, no valleys, no rocks, no deep
places, no high places, no low places, no rough places. If you
could put it on a board and between the board and a flat piece of
steel, you could just roll forever and never feel a bump. Well,
God Almighty looks upon this earth as that which is perfectly
smooth. Everything in precise, exact
symmetry. No bumps, no low places, no high
places, no chasms, no roughness. Everything exactly as he has
ordained it. Oh God, teach me so to view all
things in this world, especially as they regard me and my circumstances. The title of my message this
evening is Out of Tragedy, Triumph. Or you might make it evil, made
good by God. Truly, God's thoughts are not
our thoughts, not ever. God's ways are not our ways,
never, never. Were it in our hands or in our
power to control the world, we would never do anything the way
God has done it, is doing it, and will yet do it. I love Cowper's
hymn. We don't have it in our hymn
book. I wish we did. I quote it frequently. He, you
I'm sure remember, was given to terrible depression. He was
such a, had such a struggle with depression that he seldom ever
went into any place public. His pastor, John Newton, administered
shock treatments to him. He had a terrible, terrible struggle
all his life long, both before God saved him and afterwards
with depression. One occasion determined to kill
himself and hired a driver to take him out to throw himself
off a cliff. And it was a thick fog, misty
night. And the driver thought he had
gone where Cowper had told him to let him off. When he let him
off, he let him off right in front of his cabin, right in
front of his cottage. And Cowper went in, sat down
and wrote that great hymn, God moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. He plants
his footsteps in the sea. He rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy. and shall break in blessing on
your head. Out of tragedy, triumph. God makes good out of evil. Always. Always. Listen to the book. Turn, if
you will, to Isaiah 45. We'll get to our text in a few
minutes. Just listen to this. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee, and the remainder of wrath wilt thou restrain. When our Lord Jesus came to his
own, that is to his own people, to the nation of Israel, his
own received him not. And because they willfully despised
and rejected him, and willfully turned him over to the Romans
to crucify him, desiring that his blood be upon them and upon
their children. God cast off the nation, sent
blindness to the nation, and sent blindness to them on purpose. They chose to reject the Savior. They chose to crucify him because
of the malice of their hearts and the wickedness of their wills.
But in doing so, They did exactly what God, before the word was
made, ordained must be done for the saving of his elect. He cast
them off that he might gather his elect, his true Israel, out
of the nations of the earth. He sent blindness to that nation
that he might send light to his elect in all the nations of the
earth. And when the apostle Paul considered
that fact, he said, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his ways, and his judgment
past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For
of him and through him And to Him are all things to whom be
glory forever. Amen. What can you say to that? That's just how I want it. Amen. So be it. God let it so be. For we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called, according to his purpose. No, we do not know that everything
turns out all right. No, we do not know everything
going to be all right in the end. No, we do not know that
somehow this is going to be okay. No, but we do know we who are
taught of God Pagans and idolaters who worship at the footstool
of luck and chance and will don't know this, but we know that all
things work together. They are worked together by our
God for our everlasting good and his everlasting praise. The
Lord God distinguishes himself as God. He distinguishes himself
as God alone, solitarily God. God in opposition to all that
men call gods. God in opposition to all who
wear the name of God. He says, I am God alone. And he illustrates it by declaring
to us the fact of his absolute sovereignty over all things,
all men, all events. Good and evil. Pleasant and painful. Prosperous and adverse. Things that look good and things
that look bad. God rules it all absolutely according
to his will, established and decreed from old eternity. Here
in Isaiah 45, God speaks concerning Cyrus, long before Cyrus was
ever born. This pagan king. This pagan king. A heathen man. And he says, you're
going to be the savior of my people. You're going to bring
Israel out of their captivity. You're going to do it in exactly
the way I say that you will do it. And he uses this man Cyrus
as a type and picture of the Lord Jesus himself. Isaiah 45
verse 2. He says to Cyrus, I will go before
thee and make the crooked places straight. I will break in pieces
the gates of brass and cut and sunder the bars of iron. I will
give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places
that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by
thy name, am the God of Israel. I will make you know I'm the
God of Israel. Verse 4. For Jacob, my servant's
sake, and Israel, mine elect, I even called thee by thy name. I have surnamed thee, though
thou hast not known me. For Jacob's sake, for Israel's
sake, I raised you up. I put you in your place. I gave
you your name. 250 years before you were born. I gave direction as to how you
deliver my people. 250 years before it took place. And I did it for Jacob's sake,
for Jacob's sake. Verse five, I am the Lord. There is none else. There is
no other Lord. There's no one else in control
of anything. There's no one else who has dominion
anywhere. There's no one else sovereign,
majestic, powerful, no other God but me. I am the Lord and
there is none else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun and
from the West, that is all over the world, that there is none
beside me. I am the Lord. and there is none
else. Ah, now preacher, you surely
don't think that. Let's see. Tell me who else can
say this. I form the light and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. Preparing this message, I read
some comments by a fellow who obviously had never read the
book of God. And he said, evil is not created. It's just an abstract negative. But God said, I create evil. Darkness is just the absence
of light. God said, I create darkness. Know what he said?
You read it right there, didn't you? Well, I don't like that. I can't endure that. Drop down,
ye heavens from above. Let the skies pour down righteousness,
God says. Let the earth open and let them,
what? The heavens and the earth. The
light and the darkness, the good and the evil from north and south,
east and west. Let them bring forth salvation. That's good enough. That's good
enough. Let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it.
Woe unto him that says, I don't like that. Woe unto him that
striveth with his maker. Let the potsherds strive with
the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that
fashioneth it, what makest thou? Are thy work he hath no hands?
Woe unto him that saith to his father, what begattest thou? Or to the woman, what hast thou
brought forth? Verse 11, thus saith the Lord. The Holy One of Israel and His
Maker. Ask of me things to come. Concerning my sons and concerning
the work of my hands, command ye me. I have made the earth
and created man upon it. I, even my hands, have stretched
out the heavens and all their hosts have I commanded. I have
raised him up in righteousness and will direct all his ways."
What? This pagan, heathen, king, Cyrus? I've raised him up in my righteousness
and I will direct all his ways. He shall build my city and he
shall let go my captives, not for price, nor reward, saith
the Lord. That is, he's going to do it.
And unlike any politician you ever heard about or read about,
he won't get anything for it. He's going to do it just because
I command it. We don't. Thus saith the Lord,
the labor of Egypt and the merchandise of Ethiopia and of the Sabians,
men of stature, All these things that men work for, and labor
for, and war for, and conquer nations for, all the riches of
the earth, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be thine,
they shall come after thee, in chains they shall come over,
and they shall fall down unto thee, and they shall make supplication
unto thee, saying, Surely God is in thee, and there is none
else. There is no God. You mean, when God gets done
with this thing called time, and gets done with this thing
called creation, gets done with you and me and all men, everybody
is going to recognize that we're God's? He's chosen, He's redeemed,
and recognize that He is God alone? and recognize that everything
good in all history, God's made to be ours. That's what he said. That's what he said. Read on. Verse 50. Verily, thou art a
God that hideth thyself, O God of Israel, the Savior. They shall be ashamed and also
confounded all of them. They shall go to confusion together
that are makers of idols, all these nations of the earth. But
Israel, Israel, God's elect, the Israel of God shall be saved
in the Lord with everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed
nor confounded. world without end. For thus saith the Lord that
created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made
it. He hath established it. He created
it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited.
He made it for a purpose. I am the Lord and there is none
else. I have not spoken in secret in
a dark place of the earth. I said not under the seat of
Jacob. Seek ye me in vain. I, the Lord, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.
Now watch this. Assemble yourselves. Come. Draw
near together ye that are escaped out of the nations. They have
no knowledge that set up the word of their graven image And
pray unto a God that's helpless. Pray unto a God that cannot save. They're ignorant. They have no
knowledge. Who pray to a God who cannot
save. Tell ye, and bring them near. Yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared this from ancient
time? Who hath told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord, and
there is no God else beside me, a just God and a Savior? I save my people. I saved my
people according to my purpose. I saved my people according to
my will and my pleasure. I saved my people justly through
the sacrifice of my own son, whom I raised up in righteousness
and whom I slew in justice when I made him their sin. I saved
my people as a just God and a Savior. Now, on the basis of all that,
on the basis of all that, verse 22, he says, look unto me. and
be you saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and there
is none else. Rex Bartley, this is God in whom
we trust and the only God there is to trust. The only God there is to trust. All right, now let's look at
our text back at two. Verses 5 through 20. I'm not
going to do much preaching tonight. I'm just going to read scripture,
make a comment or two. That's pretty good preaching. Here the Lord God is speaking
to his prophet about the Chaldeans, the Babylonians, the Iraqis,
we would say today. Those people he raised up to
chasten his chosen. Now let me repeat what I've said
in every message I've thus far preached from the book of Habakkuk
to you. The book of Habakkuk is a prophecy concerning the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and the accomplishment of redemption
by him. It is a prophecy that takes in
the whole work of our Redeemer. His work of redemption and grace
is that wondrous, marvelous work that God performed and is performing
in the earth. that work which no man will believe
until God reveals it to him. Christ and God's grace and salvation
in and by and with him is God's promise that will surely come
to pass and will not tarry. Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 5, we'll
begin our reading. Yea, also because he transgresseth
by wine, He is a proud man. Neither keepeth at home who enlargeth
his desire as hell and is as death and cannot be satisfied,
but gathereth unto him all nations and heapeth unto him all people.
Now the word wine, as it's used here, is not to be taken and
applied to wine as a literal alcoholic beverage by which men
become drunk physically. That is obvious in the passage.
The wine spoken of here is a spiritual wine, the drunkenness, a spiritual
drunkenness. It is that which is described
in Revelation 14 and verse 8 as the wine of Babylon's fornications. It is the intoxicating wine,
that wine that puts men in a drunken stupor. so that they have no
idea what they're saying or what they're doing, and their drunken
stupor causes them to make their shame their glory. Their drunken
stupor uncovers their nakedness, makes bare their foreskin so
that men prove themselves by their intoxication with the wine
of Babylon to be uncircumcised at heart, not of the Israel of
our God circumcised by his spirit in the new birth. The religion
spoken of here, the religion of Babylon represented by the
Chaldeans and all things involved in it. is the same as that harlot
described in Proverbs chapter 7. Turn back to Proverbs 7. This proud man who transgresses
by wine is the preacher, the promoter of false religion, the
religion of that vile, strange woman, Babylon, the harlot of
harlots, freewill works religion. What do you mean by that, Brother
Don? Any religion that gives you something to do to get good
to God. Any religion that gives you something
to do to get good with God. Any religion that gives you something
to do to make yourself acceptable to God in any degree is the religion
of Babylon. Free will, works, idolatry, nothing
more and nothing less. Proverbs chapter seven. Verse
21, here the wise man is describing this strange woman. He's describing
the church of this day. With her much fair speech, she
caused him to yield. With the flattering of her lips,
she forced him. Verse 24, hearken unto me now
therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Let not thine heart decline to her ways. Go not astray in her
paths, for she hath cast down many wounded. Yea, many strong
men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell,
going down to the chambers of death. Look across the street. Look down the road, either direction. Look this way. Wherever you see
the house of the harlot, her house is the way to hell. Brother Dunn, you just can't
say that. Maybe I didn't make myself clear. Look across the
street, look down the road, down this way, back this way, wherever
Men preach salvation by your will and your works. That's Babylon. And our house is the road to
hell. And that includes if your mama
or your dad is there, or my mama or my daddy. That includes if
your son's pastor there or my son's pastor there. The house
is the house of hell. Go back to our text, Habakkuk
2, verse 6. Shall not all these take up a
parable against him, against Babylon, against the false prophet
and the promoter of Babylon's religion, and a taunting proverb
against him and say, woe to him that increaseth that which is
not his? How long? and to him that ladeth
himself with thick clay enriches himself with what he does. Shall
they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that
shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? Because
thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the people
shall spoil thee. The remnant? The remnant? Are those of God's elect? You
spoil all the nations of the earth, but God's people at last
will spoil you. The remnant of the people shall
spoil thee, because of men's blood, and for the violence of
the land of the city, and of all that dwell therein. Woe to
him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set
his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of
evil. Babylon set his nest on high. Where did we read about that?
Back in Genesis chapter 11, there was a place where all the men
on the earth spoke the same language and they were all one. Imagine
that. Imagine that. The whole human
race united as one. Where on earth does that happen?
Where on earth does that happen? Well, it's still going on today.
It's still going on today. If you care to look up, whenever
this message hits the internet, there'll be folks writing articles
about it. And there'll be some of them be Catholic and some
of them Presbyterian and some of them Baptist and some of them
this, that or the other. And they'll all speak with one
voice. They'll be united, all united to defend their God, which
is themselves. United in opposition to the gospel
of God's grace, for they're united in opposition to God, and that's
the only place where all men are one. What were they doing?
They were building a tower. A tower they thought by which
they could build a tower high enough to reach to heaven. What fools! They thought they could mix up
brick and mortar and stack it high enough to climb up to God. I've known folks doing like that
all my life. Their good works, their religious ceremonies, their
deeds, and God sent confusion and called the place Babel. And the religion of this world
to this day is nothing but confusion. Babel. Read on. Read on. Verse 10, Habakkuk 2. Thou hast
consulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people and
has sinned against thy soul. For the stone shall cry out of
the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer it. Woe
to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stableth a city by
iniquity. Behold, is it not of the Lord
of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire? What? Behold, is it not of the
Lord? Is this too not decreed by God?
Is this too not ordained by God? Is this not something that God
has brought to pass? Is it not the Lord who said,
I will send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie?
Is it not the Lord who sends blindness? Is not this of the
Lord of hosts that the people shall labor in the very fire
and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? Four. What a great word. What a great word. If I had been
writing this, you know how to what I'd put there, Eric, I'd
put but. Because it looks so contrary.
Looks out of place. All these things going to happen,
but that's not what he said. All these things come to pass
of the Lord for four. the earth shall be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea. Oh, what a statement. What a
statement. God Almighty says that the end
result of all these things is the earth shall be filled with
the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, even as the waters
cover the sea. That is, there won't be any place
in God's creation where men do not know and acknowledge that
He alone is God. Turn back to Isaiah chapter 11. We have another prophetic revelation
of our blessed Savior's coming. And right in the middle of that
11th chapter of Isaiah, These very same words are used. Isaiah
chapter 11 now is talking about the coming of Christ. I want
you to see that scripture interprets scripture. What's this talking
about? The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
Knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the
sea. What's this prophecy talking about? All these things that
come to pass. Isaiah 11 verse 1. There shall
come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow
up out of his roots. You know who that is, don't you?
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him and the spirit
of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Verse four.
With righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity
for the meek of the earth. Verse five. Righteousness shall
be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness, the girdle of his
reins. And when he comes, the wolf also
shall dwell with the lamb. And the leopard shall lie down
with the kid, and the calf, and the young lion, and the fattening
together, and the little child shall lead them. I think it was
Diane who asked me a few weeks ago about this very passage.
What's that talking about? Read on. And the cow and the
bear shall feed, their young ones shall lie down together,
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling
child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child
shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den." What does all that mean? Oh, that's talking about some
great thousand-year millennial reign in which you're going to
have watermelons big as houses, pumpkins big enough to live in,
string beans long as you are, and lions are going to be like
calves chewing straw, and snakes will just be house pets. No,
that's not what it's talking about. Start to bust your bubble. Such an imaginary age shall never
come. No, that's not what it's talking
about. It's talking about this age in which we live. Here, gathered
in this place, are men and women who have been
lions, beasts, destructive to everything. Here I am. The joke is after
God saved me, I never touched anything I didn't hurt. Nothing. And here I am among
the lambs. That's what it's talking about.
Well, how can you say that? Well, let's see. Let's see. Verse
10. And in that day, There shall
be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign, a banner
of the people. To it, that is to this ensign,
this root of Jesse, this great savior shall the Gentiles seek
and his rest shall be glorious. If you have a marginal reference,
his rest shall be his glory. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second
time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left
from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Patras, and from Cush,
and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the
islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign
for the nations, and shall assemble the outcast of Israel, and gather
together that dispersed to Judah from the four corners of the
earth. All right, back to our text, Habakkuk 2, verse 15. The passage is talking about
the knowledge of the glory of God covering the earth as the
waters cover the sea. Habakkuk 2, verse 15. Woe unto him that giveth his
neighbor drink, that putteth thy bottle to him that makest
him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness. I could preach for an hour on
that. This religious world loves to have you talk about your sin
to them. that you let them look on your
nakedness. Read on. Thou art filled with shame for
glory. Drink thou also, and let thy
foreskin be uncovered. The cup of the Lord's right hand
shall be turned unto thee, and shameful spewing shall be on
thy glory. For the violence of Lebanon shall
cover thee, and the spoil of beast which made them afraid
because of men's blood, and for the violence of the land, of
the city, and of that all that dwell therein? What profiteth
the graven image, that the maker thereof hath graven it, and the
molten image, and the teacher of lies, that the maker of his
work trusteth therein to make dumb idols? Woe unto him that saith to the
wood awake, and to the dumb stone arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is laid over with
gold and silver, and there's no breath at all in the midst
of it. Now in this passage, the Lord
God pronounces five woes upon the Chaldeans. five woes for
five specific crimes involved in false religion. Yes, God raised
the Chaldeans up to chasten his people, and they willingly lusted
to destroy Israel. But all this was according to
God's work, and the Lord God now shall destroy them for their
work. Verse six. The first woe is God's
curse upon the attempts of men to take to themselves that which
is not theirs. Robbing men. To rob a man is
to rob God. You steal something from me,
you stole it from God. It's not really mine anyhow. But more
specifically, robbing men of their soul. and robbing God of
His glory shall bring men into the depths of hell. The second
woe, verse 9, is God's curse upon men who seek to set their
nest on high, who seek to elevate themselves to heaven by the works
of their own hands. The third woe, verse 12, is God's
curse upon those who seek to build and establish their religion
by destroying the souls of men, by blood and by iniquity. They encompass land and sea to
make one disciple, one proselyte. And when they've made him, when
they've got him to join the church and get baptized and get a dose
of religion and put on religious garb and religious talk, they've
made him twofold more the child of hell than he was before. The
fourth woe, verses 15 and 16, is pronounced upon the sons of
Ham, the cursed, the reprobate, who intoxicate men with will
worship, by which they expose their nakedness, uncover their
foreskins, showing those men to be among the uncircumcised. And the fifth woe, in verses
19, is God's curse upon all idolatry. all the intoxicated people of
the world who pray unto a God who cannot save. Yet, right in
the middle of this passage, verse 14, right in the middle of these
woes, the Lord God declares that he will reverse all the intentions
of the wicked. For the earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea. Let me see if I can put that
in a shoe leather, something you walk around with. Let all
hell do what it will. Let all wicked men pursue their
lust. Let every enemy of God and of
his people do their best to destroy God's church and destroy God's
truth. God's purpose stands fast. All, after all, are the servants
of God, wittingly or unwittingly, willingly or unwillingly, but
all serve God absolutely. Nothing exists in time that does
not serve God. Nothing comes to pass in time
that does not serve God and serve His purpose. No one escapes serving
Him. Some serve Him gladly as willing-born
slaves made to surrender to His rule in Christ Jesus the Lord.
Others live with their fist in God's face and curse His name
with every breath. But each one does nothing except
what God has ordained for the saving of his people and the
glory of his name. Let's turn to Romans chapter
eight. Romans chapter eight. You remember
what God said when he cursed the sons of Ham? He said, Ham
shall be servant of servant to Shem and to Japheth. And Japheth
shall possess the tents of Shem. Ham. What's God's curse upon
ham? Lots of theories. Read the book
and you'll find out. Ham exists for one reason only. To serve Shem and Japheth. The reprobate exists. only to
serve Israel. Those who live and die without
our Redeemer, who live and die in rebellion to our God, live
and die but to serve the salvation of God's elect. And they still
do. Romans chapter 8 verse 35. Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation
or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril
or sword As it is written for thy sake, we are killed all the
day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Nay, in all these things, we're more than conquerors
through him that loved us. Let's see if we can get a little
broader statement of that. Second Corinthians chapter two.
Second Corinthians chapter two, verse 14. Now, thanks be unto God which
always... Are you reading it? Are you reading
it? Thanks be unto God, which always, always, whether it feels like
it or not, always callseth us to triumph in Christ and maketh
manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. Yes, God uses evil to perform
good for his elect. He uses wickedness to establish
righteousness. He uses the heinous crimes of
hell and all the evil deeds of men All things for the salvation
of his elect and the everlasting glory and praise of his own great
name. All the events of providence
are his chariots of salvation. Would to God we would never cease
to see things as he sees them. Sometimes all I can see is darkness
and bumps and low places and valleys and mountains and dark
forests, chasms, turbulence. God forgive me. God forgive me. He's taught me better. God give
us eyes to see him rule everywhere among all people. all the time. He who brings out of tragedy
triumph. This is illustrated so many times
in the scripture. Give me just a minute. I've got
to give you some illustrations. God created the heavens and the
earth and something happened. The earth was without form and
void. The earth became chaos. Darkness was upon the face of
the deep. And God moved by his spirit upon
the face of the waters and made all things new. The Lord God created man in the
garden and Adam fell. What a horrible
ruin. But if there had been no ruin,
Bob, there'd have been no redemption. If there'd been no fall, there'd
be no forgiveness. If there'd been no sin, there'd
be no salvation. Oh, blessed fall. Now, through
the fall of our father Adam, God using the fall and our fall
in him, we are made to know in the sweet experience of grace
something about God that the angels of heaven can never know. Sorrow. That widow of Zarephath
to whom God sent his prophet Elijah. There was starvation in the land. God had caused it not to rain
for three years. He told Elijah to get a place
of hiding and refuge and he'd drink by the brook and send ravens
to feed him bread and meat every morning and every evening. And
finally the brook dried up and he said, go to Zarephath, not
to one of the widows in Israel, one of the Gentile widows. And
he said, I've commanded her to feed you. She didn't know anything
about it. She didn't have a clue God had
commanded her to feed him. God commanded it before the world
was. And Elijah said, bring me some
water. And she's going to get it. He said, by the way, make
me a loaf of bread, will you? And she said, I don't know who
you are, who you think I am, but I've got just a little bit
of meal, a little bit of oil. My son and I are starving to
death. I'm going right now to gather some sticks to build a
fire to bake us one more loaf of bread and we're going to die.
Elijah said, make me one first. And the oil and the meal will
never fail. And somehow she believed God.
She believed God. You know what she did? She made
the prophet a loaf of bread. And she went back to get more
oil, and it was there. And to get more meal, and it was there.
And she went back the next day to get more oil, and it was there.
And more meal, and it was there. And did not fail. Out of tragedy, God brings triumph. The Lord Jesus is betrayed by
Judas, 30 pieces of silver. Made to be sin for us, suffers
all the horror and wrath of God, dies under the ignominious curse
of God publicly. And he said, except a corn of
wheat fall to the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it falls to the ground
and dies, it brings forth fruit. And now he who died in our stead
rose again, and behold, a multitude that no man can number, saved
by his blood. For out of tragedy, triumph by
the hand of God, exactly according to his will." Our trials and
sorrows and afflictions, our adversities in this world, who can begin to understand them? Who can begin to explain them? Who can begin to make any sense
of them? God does. He says these things work for
us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. These things
are the trials of our faith, more precious than gold that
perishes. For at the last day, they will
cause heaven to shine forth more brilliantly with the glorious
goodness of our God than we could otherwise apprehend. The dark things soon shall be
plain, and we'll look back on this earth, and it'll look like that perfectly smooth, beautiful, well-made
ball that it is, with nothing that we would change,
nothing we would alter. Every mountain brought down,
every low place brought up, dark things plain, Everything crooked
made straight. Soon we'll die. And that's a tragedy in so many ways. It is. I've got a good friend
who married her husband today or tomorrow. Known him for a
long time. She'd been watching him die for
a long time. Tragedy. until the resurrection
morning. Then, oh, what triumph, what
triumph. But what do we do? Look at verse
20. In the light of these things,
all we can do is bow before our God and worship. The Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence
before Him. Amen. You're dismissed.