I am constantly disturbed by a fact. It is a fact that my heart is
so horribly and so quickly moved to complacency and indifference
to my God and Savior. It seems that no matter what
I experience, the wonder of his grace and mercy, his revealing
his goodness to me, no matter how raptured my soul may be for
a while under the ministry of the word, coldness, indifference,
hardness, seem to steal over my soul like
that and hold me in its grip all the time. That's just fact. That's just fact. I'll soon be 54 years old. It's
been 37 years since God called me by His grace. 37 years since,
like Noah, I found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And I'm more and more convinced
of that and more troubled with it now than I've ever been. And I am more and more convinced,
I was telling Shelby this week when he was driving over to Lexington
one day, reading the scriptures, if God Almighty would leave us
to ourselves. I'm talking to you who are believers.
I'm talking about me. I'm talking about you. If he
would leave us to ourselves, there's absolutely nothing, no
evil in this world we wouldn't do and completely justify ourselves
in doing it. That means that if we are kept
In grace, we are kept by grace. That means if we continue to
believe, God continues to give us faith. That means if we continue
in the way, God Almighty holds us in the way. And thank Him
for His goodness. He has a marvelous way of doing
it and it's mysterious. Let's look at it. Turn with me
to 2 Samuel chapter 14. 2 Samuel 14 verse 28. How do you get there? I want you to read with me. 2
Samuel 14 verse 28. So Absalom dwelt two full years
in Jerusalem and saw not the king's face. Therefore Absalom
sent for Joab to have sent him to the king. But Joab would not
come to him. And when he sent again the second
time, he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants,
See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there. Go
and set it on fire. And Absalom's servants set the
field on fire. Then Joab arose and came to Absalom
unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have thy servants
set my field on fire? Now you'll remember Absalom had
killed his brother Amnon to revenge his sister. Amnon had taken Absalom's
sister and raped her. And to avenge that incestuous
rape, Absalom killed his brother. And then he fled from Jerusalem
for fear of his life. And he stayed gone for three
long years. Until finally, David was persuaded
to let him return to Jerusalem. Joab had interceded for him.
And David said, all right, you let him come on back to Jerusalem,
but you make sure he understands he's not to see my face. I don't
want to see him. I don't want to hear his voice.
And he won't hear mine. And so Absalom has been at Jerusalem
now for two long years. It's been five years since he
has seen the king's face. Five years since David spoke
to his son or his son had spoken to him. Therefore, Absalom sent
for Joab. He wanted Joab to intercede again
for him before David, but Joab wouldn't come. He sent for him
again, trying in vain to get his attention, to get him to
come to him. But Joab simply had no interest
in Absalom. He had no regard for Absalom. And then, being the conniving
wretch that he was, Absalom hatched a plan, and he was sure he was
going to get Joab's attention. The fields were fully ripe, the
barley was dry in the fields. And Absalom's fields were but
a Joab's fields. And he said to his servants one
day, he said, you get up and go out there and set Joab's fields
on fire. You burn up all that he has in
that field. And as soon as he got done burning
the fields, Joab came running to him and he said, why did you
send your servants to set my fields on fire? Wherefore have
thy servants set my fields on fire? And Absalom got what he
wanted. Joab was right in front of him.
Now he had Joab's attention. And Joab did indeed go intercede
for Absalom before David again. Now this is the question that
I have for you and me. What will it take? for God to
get your attention. What will it take for him to
get my attention? Wicked as Absalom's deed was,
it is a picture for us of God's gracious work, his actions toward
chosen sinners, whereby he is pleased to fetch us to himself. Knowing our obstinacy, knowing
our rebellion, knowing our indifference toward Him, the Lord knows that
we will never come to Him. Neither you who believe not,
nor you who believe. We just won't come to Him. We
won't lean on Him. We won't trust Him. We will not
obey Him. except he graciously force us
to come. We will never seek his mercy,
except he force us to seek his mercy. We will never depend on
him, except he force us to depend on him. We will never call on
him, except he force us to call on him. Tell me my brother, my sister,
Has that not been proven true with you from the beginning? We will engage in religion. We
will engage in religious activity. We will perform duties. But we
won't lean on him. We won't trust him. We won't
call him. We won't come to him, except
he graciously compel us to do so. Now, don't misunderstand
me. Judgment does not bring repentance. The wicked in hell don't repent
of their sins. They still gnash their teeth
against God. Judgment doesn't change anything. The goodness
of God, not the wrath of God, leads to repentance. And yet,
while judgment will never produce repentance by itself, God often
sends his grace to us by His providential judgments. And that's
the message of the 107th Psalm. When you get home, sit down and
read it. You want to understand why God
sends judgment? He causes us to call on Him.
He sends us down to the deep that we might cry out to Him.
He causes the billows and the waves to roll over us that we
might cry out to Him. He causes us to reel to and fro
as a drunken man that we might cry out to Him. So graciously
in His providence, He uses his providence, working by his spirit
and his word, to force us to the feet of the throne of grace.
As I pray for you, try to preach the gospel to you, as I plead
with God for you, and preach to you and plead with you in
God's stead, constantly trying to persuade you and constantly
trying to persuade myself to come to him. to hold him, to
embrace him. I often wonder, what will it
take? Oh, God, what will it take to
make me faithful? What will it take to make me
in here faithful to you? Many of you are without Christ,
unconverted, under the wrath of God. I say many of you, some
of you, I pray that God spoke into your
hearts. For some uncertainty has, and
yet you believe not. You refuse to come to Christ.
What will it take to get you? If you're God, He'll get you.
That I'm sure about. If you're God's, you ain't going
to hell. He'll get you. He'll get you. But what will
it take to get your attention? I wonder the same thing about
us who are believers. You who are my brothers and sisters
in Christ, how easily, how quickly, how apparently deliberately we
entangle ourselves with the cares of this world. Our Lord warns
us, and warns us, and warns us, and warns us. And yet we keep
grabbing after this world. Just keep grabbing after it. I see many, many, I know many, who willingly absent themselves
from the worship of God, from the fellowship of God's saints,
Many who, if they wanted to, could be sitting right where
you are tonight hearing the gospel. Many could. But they've got too
many pressing, urgent, important things to do. Too many things. If indeed we are gods, he won't
lose us. if he must set our barley fields
on fire, if he must destroy our businesses, if he must destroy
our health, if he must take a wife or a child or anything else. Now I'm choosing my words deliberately. He considers all of that but
a very small thing. by comparison to the price he
paid for you. James Jordan, he redeemed you
with the precious blood of his darling son. Your barley fields aren't a thing. You may think they're very important,
but got to fix it so you don't. You may think they're absolutely
necessary, got to fix it so you don't, if you're his. What will
it take for God to get your attention? Have I got your attention now?
Let's look at this illustration that God gives us. If he sets
our barley fields on fire, we ought not grumble, but rather
bow. He has every right to do so.
After all, our barley fields, those things that are precious
to us, all of them, all of them, Those things that are precious
to us are his. They're his fields. They're not
ours. They're not ours. He just allows
us to tend them and use them. But they're his fields. And if
he destroys them to save us, it's his goodness in doing so.
What will it take to get your attention? Let me first talk
to you. who are gods, to you who believe
Christ, to you who are washed in the blood of Christ and robed
in his righteousness, to you who sincerely in your hearts
seek the Lord. I know that for some of you perhaps
what I have to say tonight will be painful. You may even get
a little upset with me for talking plainly. But remember I'm your
pastor. I laid before your soul as one
who must give account to God, so don't get upset with me for
being faithful to you. Hear what God has to say, and
I'm sure I've got something for you from God. Number one, understand
this, you and I who are the children of God, must, as long as we live
in this world, suffer trials and tribulations and troubles
all the time. All the time. The hymn writer put it this way.
Bastards may escape the rod, sunk in earthly vain delight,
but the true born child of God must not. would not if he might. Wheat has to be threshed. Gold
has to be tried. Silver has to be purged. And a child who is loved of his
father must be chastened. There is no such thing as a child
in this world who never needs a loving father's chastening
rod. And no such thing. We sometimes convince ourselves
that ours are the exception, or more likely we try to convince
ourselves that our grandchildren at least are the exception. But
there is no such thing as a child whose back doesn't need bearing
and must feel the rod if his father loves him. No such thing.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Verse 5. And ye have forgotten. Oh, Ron, how quickly we forget. Ye have forgotten. The exhortation
which speaks to you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the
chastening of the Lord. That is, don't get upset with
God because He whips you. And don't ignore the intent of
God when he whips you. Despise not the chastening of
the Lord. Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him. Don't let
this get you down. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth. Notice the ETH ending. Whom he
loveth, he chasteneth. He continually does so. And scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. Now watch this, if you endure
chastening, not if you have it, if you endure it, if you endure
chastening, if you endure the trial, God deals with you as
with sons. If the chastening gets you, if
the trouble destroys you, if the rod makes you abandon your
father, God's not dealing with you as
a son. If you endure chastening, God dealeth 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, then are you bastards and not sons.
You have a name that no father knoweth. Furthermore, we've had
fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence.
Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits
and live? For they, our earthly fathers,
verily for a few days chastened us at their pleasure. They beat
us because they were mad. But He, never. Oh, no. If God Almighty makes
you hurt. If he lays his back on you, if
your heavenly father chastens you, he for our profit. It's always for our good. That doesn't make the pain less
painful. It just makes it more bearable.
I used to take Faith, and when she was younger, real often,
just real often. If Shelby said, Faith needs to
be spanked, when I would come in, Faith got spanked. And then
I'd ask Shelby why. Wasn't even questioning it. And
real often, bend her over my knee, make her go get the paddle,
bend her over my knee, and I'd talk to her. And then I'd spank
her. And I said, well, if my child
listens to talking better, I never risked it. I'd talk and then
spank, and then we'd talk some more. And I made certain she
understood. This is for you. This is for you. Not because
I want to hurt you. Not because I want to cause you
pain. Not because I'm angry. For you. I'm doing this for you.
And one of these days you'll understand that, for you. He, for our profit, watch this,
that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now, no chastening
for the present seemeth to be joyous. If it did, it wouldn't
be chastening. But grievous. Nevertheless, when God gets done,
afterward, it yieldeth a peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them
which are exercised thereby. Our Lord Jesus left us a double
legacy. He said in John 16, 33, in the
world you shall have tribulation. That's all you get here. That's
all you get here. In the world you shall have tribulation.
God wants to heal your troubles. God wants you to have them or
you wouldn't have them. It's exactly right. In the world
you shall have tribulations. But in me, you shall have peace. Don't seek your peace here. Don't seek it here. Don't seek
it here. In me, you shall have peace.
Out there, you're going to have trouble. Trouble. Now, we have many things revealed
in the scripture about the things we suffer. which will help us
if God will teach us. Let me give you three or four. First, though we are chastened
of our God, and though he appears to frown, and though it appears
that he's angry with us, God Almighty never punishes us for
our sin as a judge. Never. All penal judgment, all
satisfaction was taken care of at Calvary 2,000 years ago. The
Lord God heaped upon his son our sins and made them to be
his and punished his son in our room instead. And he put up his
sword. He will never, never, never deal
with his child in anger. I hope you understand that. If
Christ died for you, the wrath of God has been avenged for you. And there's no fury in God toward
you. Our sorrows come not because
God's angry with us, but because he loves us. He's as good to
us in his afflictive providences as he is in his most joyful providences. Just as good. Just as good. He's just as good when he gives
the child, and just as good when he takes the child. He's just
as good when he gives the wife, and just as good when he takes
her. God always deals with us in goodness. Just goodness. Nothing else. Here's another
thing. Our trials and tribulations are
appointed and arranged by the wisdom, love, and grace of our
Heavenly Father. God in Israel sows the seeds
of affliction, pain, and toil. These spring up and choke the
weeds that would else overspread the soil. If God puts the number to be
10, our troubles can't be made 11, though all hell may try.
Nebuchadnezzar may heat the fiery furnace seven times hotter, but
when they cast in God's children, God Almighty controls the thermostat,
and it causes no harm. Here's another thing. We have the sweet comfort and
assurance that whatever our Heavenly Father does, it is for our good. How can I say this? David Coleman,
if you're God's, if I'm His, He could not be better to you,
He could not be better to me at any time than He is right
now. But you get that. Whatever it
is that you face now, or shall face tomorrow morning, whatever
it is, God could not be better in his dealings with you than
he is. He could not be better. It is
the goodness of God that brings these things. Turn to Romans
chapter 8. We shall be enriched by the things
we suffer. The man who owns a gold mine
doesn't mind going down into the deep, dark pit to fetch out
some gold. Why should we fear our dark troubles
when God has promised to make those troubles the source of
our spiritual and eternal benefit? Look at Romans 8, 18. For I reckon, this is good calculation,
I reckon that the sufferings of this present time Oh, but
preacher, you don't know what I've suffered. You hadn't had
too much. You hadn't had too much. I find the folks who suffer the
most say the least. Folks who suffer the least whine
the most. But Paul suffered some things. And he said, I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be put
in the scales. with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. Here we grow. And God fixes it so that in this
tabernacle, we constantly grow, grow, waiting
for the dissolving of this tabernacle and that house not made with
hands eternal in the heavens. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4. I said this sometime recently,
and I know that it comes as a thing that folks kind of, did he really
mean to say that? Our troubles, our trials, our
heartaches here are things by which God, our Father, makes
heaven more glorious, more precious, more delightful. than it could
otherwise have been. Let's see what Paul says, 2 Corinthians
4 verse 17. For our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. What you're going through now,
what you have to endure now, what's good for you to endure
now, In heaven's glory, you're going to find that this is the
very thing that makes the glory of heaven what it shall be. Look at 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. which according to his abundant
mercy hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you, for you who are kept," isn't that good, kept by the power
of God through faith, under salvation ready to be revealed in the last
time. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a season. Now
watch this. If needs be. Oh, my brother. If God brings a tear to your
eye, there's a needs be. If God brings pain to your heart,
there's a needs be. If needs be, we are in heaviness. Through manifold temptations,
the word is manifold trials. Oh, how quickly they come. One
direction, then another. That the trial of your faith,
the testing, the proving of your faith. being much more precious
than gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might
be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ. Did he say, Ron, the trial of
your faith is more precious than gold? The trial. Trials don't change anything. Trials prove things. Put a ship
out to sea, it's not going to determine, that ship's not going
to be made seaworthy or unworthy by putting it out to sea. Just
watch it. If it floats, it's seaworthy.
If it sinks, it ain't. The trial of your faith, the
trial, that by which God Almighty continually proves your faith,
shall in heaven's glory prove to be more precious than gold
that perishes. Look at verse 8. Whom having
not seen, you love. In whom though now you see him
not yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
of your souls. Spurgeon made two choice statements
with regard to our trials. They're both worth remembering.
First one is this. He said, if you would find a
man whose lips dropped with pearls, look for one who's been in deep
waters. And then he said, we seldom learn much, except as
it is beaten into us by the rod of Christ's schoolhouse under
Madam Trouble. We just don't learn much otherwise. More than that, in the midst
of our trials, always, always, we are assured
of God's constant presence, his constant faithfulness, his constant
mercy, His constant grace, His constant, immutable love. Look
at a passage in Isaiah 57 for a minute. Isaiah 57. God's writing to His children
by the prophet Isaiah. And this is what it says, verse
7. Isaiah 54, excuse me, verse 7. For a small moment I have forsaken
thee. The ungodly he abandons forever.
His own for a small moment I have forsaken thee. Not literally,
not really, but in all appearance. But with great mercies will I
gather thee. In a little wrath, That's a good
way of describing it. You know, little wrath. I hid
my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness
will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. I forsook
you for just a short while, so that I might gather you in mercy.
I hid my face from you for just a moment, that I might gather
you in everlasting mercy. Verse 9. For this, this my promise,
my faithfulness, my grace, my mercy, is as the waters of Noah
unto me. For as I have sworn that the
waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I
sworn that I would not be wroth with thee. nor rebuke thee. God says just as surely as this
world will never again be covered with water, I'll never be wroth
with you. I'll never be angry with you.
I'll never turn you from me or turn myself from you. For the
mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness
shall not depart from thee. Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.
He says, fear not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I
am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right
hand of my righteousness. He said, when you pass through
the waters, I'll be with you. When you pass through the fire,
I'll be with you. The river shall not overflow
you. The flames shall not kindle upon you. I'm with you. So don't
be afraid. Don't be afraid. Trouble comes,
yes. Pharaoh will pursue you. Egypt
will chase you. The enemies of your soul will
seek to destroy you. But in all these things, I am
with you, and I uphold you, and I strengthen you. And then by
the trials and troubles that the Lord graciously sends us, He sweetly calls us to Himself
and forces us to obey. He calls us to believe on Him,
to trust Him. But we're such foolishly self-reliant
people, we just won't do it. We just won't do it. Our little grandson, like most
boys, he'll be three in just a few weeks. He's as independent
as a hog on ice. I do it myself. Do it myself. Do it myself. Don't hold my hand.
I'm a big boy. I'm all right. I'm all right. Until something scares him. And
man, when something scares him, here he comes. I don't even have
to reach out my hand. He reaches for mine. What a foolish, ignorant, big
boy baby his granddaddy is. I'd do it myself. I can handle
this. I'd get along all right. I'd
never say it, but this is the attitude. God, I really just
don't need you to take care of this. I can handle it until he
fixes it. So I'm scared to death. And then
I flee away to Him and believe Him. When I have nothing else
to lean on, I lean on Him. Forgive me, my God, but that's
the way it is. Our Savior knocks at the door
of His church. He calls us to sweeter, intimate, blessed
communion and fellowship with Him. But we're at ease, and we put
off our coat, and we put off our shoes, and we crawled into
our bed, and we, Lord, everything going good, now don't bother
us now. So He speaks. And our hearts are stirred, and
he puts his hand in by the hole of the door. When he does, finally
we rise and open to him, but he withdraws himself. And we
seek him and can't find him. We call for him, but he won't
answer. So we go to the house of God, and we sit down in the
sound of the word, and the watchmen in Jerusalem, those faithful
watchmen in Zion, take away the veil. That's what I'm attempting
to do tonight, Rex. Take away the veil. Take away
the veil. It's your fault. It's your fault. The condition you're in is your
own doing. You bring the trouble on yourself
because you will not continually open to Him. And then He graciously
comes and makes Himself known. The Lord calls us to the throne
of grace, that we may find mercy and find grace to help in time
of need. But we won't pray until He burns up our body fields
and teaches us to pray. He calls us to utter consecration. I beseech you therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto the Lord, which is just
your reasonable service. But we'll attempt to serve Him
with half-hearted lip service until it burns our barley fields
and we've got nothing else to serve. That's just the way we
are. When we refuse his calls, he
burns our body fields. And some may think that's a strange
thing. But who thinks it's strange?
Who thinks it's strange? For a loving father to take his son's choice Beloved
pet. Bought that boy that dog when
he came into this world. They grew up together. Oh, he loves that dog. He loves
that dog. First thing he does every morning,
go see that dog. Last thing he does every night,
see that dog. He loves that dog. They're together
all the time. Oh, he loves that dog. But son,
the dog got rabies. And if I don't kill him, he's
going to kill you. Daddy, don't kill my dog. I've
got to, son. If I don't, he's going to kill
you. Don't you kill my dog. I hate you to kill my dog. Don't
kill my dog! But if the father loves his boy,
he's going to kill that dog. And God Almighty is going to
burn up any battlefield that would destroy you if He loves
you. Those are the ways of our God. Sometimes He sends fires of sickness
to burn up our health and strength and make us lean on Him. He sends
fires of losses to burn up those things that we think we've got
to have. to make us turn to Him. He sends fires of bereavements
to burn up those that are rivals to Him in our hearts, that He
may have our hearts' affections. He sends fires of spiritual darkness. to burn up our self-confidence,
that we may learn to trust in Him. He sends fires of domestic
trouble to burn up all those things that would entangle us
and snare us and keep us from Him, that we may walk with Him
in His house. Whenever God comes, whatever
it takes, let us turn to Him quickly and say, Speak, Lord,
Thy servant heareth Thee. Search me, O God. Know my heart,
try me, and know my thoughts, and see if I'm in the way of
the wicked, and lead me in the way of the last. Now briefly,
some of you here are lost without Christ. under the wrath of God Almighty. Oh, what a horrible thought. I tremble for your souls. I tremble for you. What will
it take for God to get your attention? He speaks to you by prickings
of conscience. He speaks to you by the disposition
of His providence. He speaks to you through the
preaching of the gospel. He speaks to you by the work
of His blessed Spirit. Still, I cannot help wondering
what will it take for God to get your attention. I know what it took for Him to
get my attention. I wonder what it will take for
Him to get your attention. What will it take? If God's chosen you, if Christ
has redeemed you, if the Holy Spirit had been sent here to
get you, get you he will, no matter what it takes. Let me
give you one more text, Lamentations chapter 3. Turn there and I'll
wrap this up. Verse 32, let me use this to
explain to you God's wondrous ways of mercy. Though He calls
grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of
His mercies. For He doth not willingly, He
doth not willingly, He doth not afflict willingly, He doth not
willingly grieve the children of men. Oh, my God. Thank you for not leaving me
to myself. And I ask my father. that you'll
never leave these immortal souls to themselves. Amen.