I'd like for you to turn with
me to the book of Acts chapter 16. I'd like to read a few verses
here and begin our comments this morning. And we'll be going back
to the book of Job in a few moments, but I'd like for us to begin
here this morning. The question that I'd like to
deal with in this service today is how do men and women in this
world How are they to deal with the various trials and afflictions
that come to them? The Bible says that as sparks
fly upward, men are born into trouble. We know that, as John
Bunyan so ably put it, that the people of God are not only born
into trouble by virtue that they're born in the flesh and given a
body in which they must live here in this world, but they're
also born into double trouble in that they're born again and
they're the Lord's people and they're living in a world that's
a stranger to the things of God they're living in a world that
crucified the son of God himself when he was here they're living
in a world that is uh... not in any way shape or form
uh... a world that is submissive to
the things of God at least not so willingly And we know that
many times men come to the place where they are forced to bow
by the sovereign will and purpose of God. But willingly, men are
not bowing their knee today to the Lord Jesus Christ in this
world. And so God's people are having
tribulation in the world, and many of those that know not God
are also suffering great afflictions in the world today. But here
in the 16th chapter of the book of Acts, I'd like to read beginning
here with verse 20, and we'll read down through verse 25. Verse 20 through 25, "...and
brought them to the magistrates, that is, Paul and Silas were
brought." Paul and Silas, preachers of the gospel. Paul and Silas,
believers on the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul and Silas, disciples. of the Lord Jesus Christ, those
who were sold out, as it were, to the purpose and cause of Jesus
Christ in the world, dedicated to the spread and proclamation
of the gospel of God's grace. They were brought to the magistrates,
these men being Jews, it is said that they were exceedingly troubling
the city. And they were teaching customs
which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe,
being Romans. And the multitude rose up together
against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded
to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes
upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to
keep them safely. who having received such a charge
thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the
stocks. So we see here two of God's people,
two of those that were chosen of the Lord, we see them in trouble. We see them being cast into the
prison. We see them being beaten with
many stripes. We see them being threatened.
We see them here as they are being kept. by the jailer in
the prison. I would consider them in trouble,
wouldn't you? I would say that these believers were really in
trouble. And I'm sure that they felt keenly
what they were experiencing. I'm sure that they didn't know
the outcome. and possibly they felt they had
the sentence of death upon them and felt that this would only
culminate in their lives being taken from them. And they possibly
felt that this was their end. But we see in verse 24 that the
guard had received a charge, and so
he thrust them into the inner prison, and he made their feet
fast in the stocks. He put their feet in the stocks
so they could not move about, but they were locked in. And
at midnight, we see what they did. How did they handle this
trouble? How did they handle this time
of affliction? What did they do? Did they murmur? Did they groan? Did they complain? Did they make all kinds of promises
to God here that they wouldn't have made on other occasions?
Would they have tried to strike a deal with God? What is it here
that these two brethren who are in trouble, who are in deep trouble,
who have great trials upon them, what do they do? Well, at midnight,
Paul in Silas, verse 25, says that they prayed. At midnight,
they began to pray. They began to cry to God. They
began to pour out their hearts before the Lord. You see, these
men trusted God. These men relied upon God. These
men believed God. And so they began to pray. They
began to pray about their situation. They began to lay before God
what they had suffered. And they knew God knew about
them. All things are open unto the
eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Paul later said in the
book of Hebrews, he knew that God was acquainted with his trials,
with his tribulation. He knew that these things were
not things that God had to be informed about. But yet, we're
told that Paul and Silas prayed. They cried to God. They looked
to the Lord. And then, too, we're told here
that they sang praises unto God. They sang praises unto God. You see, that is certainly an
unusual thing to do in a time of such calamity, in a time of
such trouble and difficulty, that these men would begin to
sing praises unto God. But, beloved, I believe that
one of the great, what we might say, effects of a submissive
spirit in the heart of a submissive soul before God is that it does
enable an individual to praise the Lord. It does enable an individual
regardless of the trouble they're in, regardless of how afflicted
their circumstances are, regardless of how mysterious the circumstances
of their life appear to be, it enables them to praise the Lord,
to sing praises unto God. And often the Lord is pleased
to take away the spirit of mourning and give the spirit of praise
to an individual's heart. Somebody has said, 15 minutes
of praise to God is worth more than a day of fasting. To praise
the Lord, you know to praise God, is for the soul to be in
flower. It's for the soul to be right
before God. It's for the soul to be submissive
before the Lord. So I here find a great example. I find Paul and Silas, I find
them in extremely difficult circumstances, but I find them here being a
great example to us in that in these afflictive circumstances,
they prayed and they gave praise, they sang praises unto God. You know, this is probably the
last thing that we think about doing when we get in trouble.
Sometimes we say, Maybe I better go see somebody right quick,
or maybe I better go see my banker, or maybe I better go to this
one or that one or some other one. But these fellows were locked
in, you see, their feet were tied, and they were in the stock.
They couldn't go see anybody. They had to look to the one they
knew. And they knew God, and they knew that He was an almighty
God, a powerful God, and they knew He was a sovereign God,
He could do whatever He willed to do, whatever He would purpose
to do, He would do, and so they prayed. And they asked God to
intervene. And God did, sure enough, intervene. Now then, I offer you that example. And certainly, all of us would
agree that it was for Christ's sake that these men were cast
into prison. It was for the gospel's sake
that they were cast into prison. Now that's very important. for
us to see, because there are many of the afflictions of God's
people in this world that are brought upon them. They may not
understand it at the time. It's brought upon them for Christ's
sake. You know, many of the trials
that we have in this world Our trials that we have because we
love Christ, because we are trusting in Christ, and because we believe
the Word of God, and because we own the Word of God, and we
believe the Bible is the Word of God. And so many, many times
the sufferings and the afflictions we have come upon us for this
reason. Now, as we mentioned earlier,
there are many of those that are whirling sinners, many of
those out here that are cut off from the life that's in God,
that are without Christ, that also have great times of suffering
and affliction in the world. Before I get to Job and his example
to us, I'd like to say a few words about this. I know that
many times when things happen, terrible tragedies happen in
this world, that not only are just the people of the world
affected, but sometimes there are some of God's people involved
in it too. And I'm sure, although I'm not
positive, I'm sure that there were believers that were affected
greatly by what happened recently in Oklahoma City. The bombing
there, I'm sure, I'm just reasonably certain in my own soul that there
were surely some believers involved in that. some believers in Christ,
some who trusted Christ, and some who were truly the Lord's
children. And I'm sure that there's a great
many questions this morning in their minds as to why, as to
why does these things happen. Why is it that there's so much
injustice in this world? Why is it that the righteous
suffer along with the wicked many, many times in this world?
Why is it that we have so many, many questions unanswered in
this world? Well, for example, recently,
we know that this weekend is the 20th anniversary of the end
of the Vietnamese War. And recently, Mr. McNamara wrote
a book in which he admitted that the government was wrong to have
ever fought that war. The government was wrong. Their
ideas were wrong. They just absolutely did the
wrong thing in sending approximately 55,000 American men and women
to their death in Vietnam. And he admitted as much as we
were wrong. We just were wrong in doing that.
And of course I lived through that war and I remember all the
debate on both sides and I remember also Mr. McNamara in that day
and time being so dogmatic and they were so right in their appraisal
of the situation there and what was going to happen if we didn't
fight the war and so on and so forth. But yet there were 55,000
Americans, roughly that many, that lost their lives. And there
were many believers who lost their sons and maybe daughters
in that conflict, many believers. And now can't you imagine, as
they hear Mr. McNamara and read his book, can't
you imagine the terrible feeling that once again comes upon them
when they think about their loved ones? We know that Brother Henry
Mahan lost his son. He was there nine days. in vietnam
and was killed uh... by shrapnel and uh... uh... what a terrible loss that that
family suffered and now to hear the leaders of our country say
that it was all in vain i remember uh... uh... in sacramento california
they have uh... they have a a monument there
to the dead those who died in the vietnamese war and uh... on the plaque that's outside
of this monument it says that some or that all gave some and
then it says some gave all. So there's many that sacrificed
their lives for that situation. And yet, now we understand that
it was a mistake, that it was a mistake. Well, how do you deal
with things like that in this world? How do you face that?
How do you deal with it? What is it that you can say to
people who have been, as it were, victims of such terrible, terrible
things as many have experienced in this world. Now, then I want
you to turn back with me to the book of Job. And in the book
of Job, we find here in the first chapter some things that are
very, very interesting to me. And I believe that these things
can be helpful to every one of us in dealing with some of the
unanswered questions in our hearts and dealing with some of the
problems that we find in this world. It's certain that whatever
God makes crooked, no man can make straight. And it's certain
that there are many, many things that happen in this world that
nobody has the final answer to. Nobody can say, this is the reason
for it. But Job handled his trials, and
I think he handled them exactly like they ought to be handled.
And I think this morning that this will be a blessing to us
if we are able to get a handle on it. Now, we remember the story. I read the chapter to you, and
we read where all of the things that had come upon Job, but I
want you to notice that Satan was given power over Job's possessions
and in verse 11, but put forth thine hand and touch all that
he hath. This is Job 1 and 11. And he
will curse thee to thy hand, says the devil. And the Lord
said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power,
or in your hand. And only, he says, put not forth
thine hand upon him. Now later the Lord said concerning
Satan, he said that Satan had caused him to move against Job
and to destroy him without cause, to swallow him up as it were
without cause. That's in the third verse of
chapter two. The Lord had been moved. Listen to it. It says,
And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant
Job? There is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright
man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil. And still he
holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movest me against him, to
destroy him without cause." We see here that God says You've
moved me against Him to destroy Him without cause. There's some
very mysterious things going on here in the book of Job. And we read about all of the
afflictions of Job, and how he lost his substance, and how he
lost his family, his seven sons, and his three daughters. And
after this had happened, We read in verse 20 and through verse
22 of the first chapter, then Job arose and ran his mantle. After he got all of this news,
after all the news that came in, the news of the cyclone,
the news of the tornado or whatever it was that blew down the oldest
or his eldest son's home and killed all of his children. News
about his possessions being taken away and servants being slain
by the sword. It says then Job arose and he
ran his robe. He rose up. And here in his robe,
here's a man that's full now of news, full of the information
that has come in, and his soul is greatly, greatly distressed. And he feels, because you see,
God has moved against him. God has moved against him, and
God can bring a man to nothing. God can bring a man to nothing
as a man can step upon a moth and crush a moth, or as a man
can kill an insect. God can, as he moves against
a man, can suddenly, he can be withered and taken away, and
all that he has can be consumed. And that's what's happened to
Job. And Job has his help, but that soon is to be dealt with
also. He soon is to be afflicted with
morals. He soon is to be greatly afflicted
by those that even the wife of his own bosom is to say to him,
curse God and die. Here's an afflicted man and he
rose up and he rent his robe and he shaved his head and he
fell down upon the ground and he worshiped. He fell down upon
the ground and worshipped, and said, Naked came I out of my
mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
And in all of this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. There's a few things here that
I want us to notice. First of all, Job did not try
in his handling here of his great grief and his sorrow, he did
not try to hide this sorrow. There were outward evidences
of it and outward signs of it. A man of God is not expected
to be like a stone. A child of God, when he has great
trouble in this world, is not expected to be like a rock. The
grace of God has taken away the heart of stone and given us a
heart of flesh. and we have something to feel
with, and we feel keenly the things that happen to us here
in this world. I mean they touch us, and they
touch us in the tenderest of spots. The Lord's people are
the subject of tender feelings, and when they have to endure
the rod, they feel every stroke of it. They feel the message
of the rod, and the stroke, and the hurt of the rod. Now Job
felt the blows indeed that fell upon him. And do not blame yourself,
beloved, if you're conscious of pain, and if you're conscious
of grief, do not blame yourself. Do not say, well, if I was grown
up in the Lord, if I was a mature believer, I'd never feel any
pain, I'd never feel any grief, I'd never be disappointed, I
wouldn't suffer like I do. That's not true. That's absolutely
wrong for us to ever believe that, and we're never asked to
be made hard. We're not to ask God to make
us hard. We're not to do that. sometimes,
and it is a burden to my own soul. Tears are much harder now
to come by in my own life than they used to be when I was a
younger person. Tears are hard to come by, and
I'll tell you that, and sometimes we become very hardened by the
various things that happen to us in this world, so hardened
that we're hardly able to shed a tear. But we're never to ask
God to make us hard. The grace of God works in another
way. The grace of God works to enable
us to be strong and to bear the trials that God sends into our
life. The grace of God works in that
way, you see. Not to give us a hard heart but
to give us more strength to bear what is sin. And it gives patience,
and it gives submission, and we benefit by the feelings that
God gives us, and there's no sin in the feeling. Because you
see in verse 22, it says, In all this Job sinned not, nor
charged God foolishly, but it affected him to the point where
that he ripped his robe and where he shaved his head, and he fell
down upon the ground and worshipped the Lord. Now then, our morning
should always, I think, as we see Job here on the ground now,
and we see him with his head shaved, and we see him worshipping,
Worshipping God. This is the last thing that most
people do when they get into trouble. They quit going to church,
and I think I've said that a number of times through the years, but
nevertheless, it's the truth. People, when they have a bereavement,
they say, well, I just quit worshipping God. I give up. When they have
a back set in business, they say, well, I've just got to give
up this church business and give up this business of worshipping
the Lord. But we see here that Job, he worshipped God. And our
mourning should always be sanctified with devotion to God. You see,
God is real. You see, God is true. You see, God is a God of absolute
inflexible justice, and He knows the reasons why, and He has a
reason for everything that he does. God doesn't do anything
without a reason. He's got a reason for what he
does. And it's for us to believe that
God is too wise to err and too holy not to do right. And it's
for us to worship whenever we feel confused, when we feel that
we don't understand, when we feel that this thing is all out
of culture and that everything is going wrong. Where will it
all end? It's for us to worship God and
to sanctify our sorrow and our mourning with this devotion. In Psalm 62 and 8, it says, you
people pour out your heart, trust in the Lord always, and pour
out your heart before Him. Turn your hearts as it were upside
down. You say in your heart, I don't
feel like worshiping. I've been hurt. I don't feel
like worshipping God. I've been afflicted, and this
is wrong, and I've got this funeral to go to, and that, and something
else. I don't feel like worshipping."
Well, the psalmist said, you turn your heart upside down.
until and just go ahead and worship God anyway, worship God anyway,
and God will give you strength and grace like you never believed
that you could receive. The kind of worship which lies
in adoring God and in making a full surrender of yourself
to the divine will is what we're looking for. We're looking for
a worship of God that will enable us to surrender unto the will
of God in our life. And it will alleviate our sorrows.
Beloved, if we argue with ourselves and bring some facts to bear
upon our minds. And I want you to see here, there's
about four things that I want to mention. And beloved, you
just can't sit down when you're faced with a terrible situation. And when you're under trial,
and when it seems the Lord's whipping you every day, and you
just are in an awful fix, you just can't sit down and say,
well, comfort may fall out of the heavens, and I may get some
comfort one of these days. Beloved, listen, you can't sit
still. Listen, if you're going to be comforted, you must look
for it. You must look for comfort. You
must go against the grain of the flesh and look for comfort. You must look for themes of truth
upon which to think and meditate to profit. You've got to believe
some things and you've got to look at some things and you've
got to get a hold of something as an anchor and hold to that
and derive some consolation from what you're holding on to. Now
I want you to get a few things here that he says. I want you to notice,
let me read the 21st verse and it's in this verse that we find
some things that old Job held on to in this time of great affliction
and loss and trial. And he said, this is what Job
said when he was worshiping God. He said, naked came I out of
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave,
and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Now on the surface, it would appear that that pretty well
covers everything and that just simply would wipe out all confusion,
all of the mystery, and it would wipe out all of our heartache
and sorrow and disappointment and grief and just do away with
it immediately. But we know it's not that easy.
It's not that simple. Because there's so much difference
between knowing something in your head and knowing it in your
heart that the letter of the word itself will not solve the
problem. You've got to believe these things
in your heart and talk to yourself about these things here that
Job mentions. What does he mention? Well, first
of all, he thinks about the shortness or the brevity of life. How short
life is. He says, he said, naked came
out of my mother's womb, naked shall I return thither. And so
let's think a little bit about that. He said, I'll come forth,
go back again. Why do I need all these things?
Why do I need all these things? I can get by without these things.
I'll return to the earth. The day is coming when I'm going
to be resurrected. I'm going to the grave and I'm
going to be resurrected. My life is short. It's brief.
Every man's life is short. The scripture is so clear on
that, that life is brief. Scripture says that our life
is even as a vapor that just appears for a little time, and
then it just vanishes away as the sun comes up and the mist
is suddenly removed and taken away. Job said, then there's
going to come a resurrection, I'm going to return to this earth,
for I need all these things for. Now Job was just simply completely
cleaned out, so he was willing to go along. The losses that
a man has which makes him to desire and to depart out of this
world and be with Christ, they're real gains really. When a man's
hands is empty and he begins to think about eternity and he
begins to dwell upon the fact that there's a life to come and
he thinks about his coming in and his going out, that's real
gain. because everybody's coming to
this world at the time of God's choosing and you're going to
go out at the time of God's choosing regardless of what you think
you've got to do with it you're going out at the time of God's
choosing even if you take your own life you're going out of
here you're going to make an exodus from this world and when
you're not ready to make an exodus from this world very few people
are but Job considered the situation And it's always good when we
get down to the brass tacks, when we get right down where
the rubber meets the road and we begin to see what life and
death is all about. And when we begin to lose some
of the things we picked up in this world, it's kind of like
a fellow walking across a plowed field that's wet and muddy. And
he starts out across the field and every step he takes he picks
up more mud. Have you ever been in gumbo?
And by the time you get over to the side of the field, I mean
your feet is so heavy that you can hardly pick them up. And
it's a wonderful thing whenever you can shake that off. And then
you just feel light as a feather. Your feet, you just feel like
you could just walk for miles. You get that big load off. And
that's the way it is, beloved, in this world. And many times
God uses trials and losses and crosses and bereavements in this
world to help us to feel like we're just ready to go on. and
leave this world. And so some of these losses are
very, very important. We need to talk to ourselves
about this. And then another thing here I
see is the length of time we have our earthly possessions.
He said, naked came I out of my mother's womb, naked shall
I return thither. He feels himself really to be
a very poor man now. that he's very poor. Everything
is gone, he's stripped, yet he seems to say, I'm not any poorer
now than I was when I was born. I came into the world naked,
and I'm going to go out naked, but I'm not any worse off than
I was. And you know, really, in our trials, all we lose, really,
is the dross. out of our life, the real gold
is never lost. It's the draws in our lives that
we lose. But he seems to say that I came
into this world with nothing but my mother's love, and he
said I'm going to go out of this world one of these days, and
I'm going to go out just like I came in. And Paul said we brought
nothing into this world certain, He said, we can take nothing
out. You're not going to take anything out of here with you.
So if you can look at things in the light of the Word of God
and to be serious about the truth of God, then you're not going
to take anything out of this world when you leave. You came
in with nothing. You're going out with nothing.
Therefore, Paul said, be content with such things as you have.
If I have but little now, I shall have soon. Soon I shall have
less than I have now because I'm going out of this world.
and I'm not going to take anything with me. I'm not going to take
a thing with me. The two ends of our life, let
me say, are nakedness. The two ends of our life are
nakedness. Now if you look at life that
way, it's not going to bother you too much when you stumble
and whenever you lose, you know, something here, something there.
It's not going to bother you too much. If you look at it like
old Job did here. He said, I had all this stuff.
I had it all. And now he said, I'm down to
where I'm beginning to think in the terms of how I came into
this world and how I'm going out of it. He said, I come in
naked and I'm going out that way. And that brings a man to
where he can say with old Job, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Now then, we go a little bit further here. And the third thing I see is
it's a hand of God which gives and Job acknowledges that. Now what he says here in 21st
verse he says the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. The
Lord gave it and the Lord took it away. Now Job didn't know
about what went on between Satan and the Lord but he said I know
God had a hand in this. I know God did it. And later
on, as we read out of the second chapter, God acknowledges it. Satan moved him against Job without
a cause. Job knew solidly in his heart,
with real conviction, God did this. The Lord did it. He took it. He gave it, and he
took it. And Job didn't say nothing here
about, I earned all that. And now it's gone and just daily
vex himself with how that his labors were all gone down the
drain. He didn't do that. He said the Lord gave and the
Lord has taken away. They're gifts from Him who has
the right to take them back whenever He pleases. Now, could you look
at things like that, the things that God has loaned you in this
life, could you look at them like that? God gave them to me,
He loaned them to me, and He can take them back whenever He
pleases. And I'm not going to get too upset about it. I'm going to worship God regardless
of what happens. All we have, lock, stock, and
barrel, is just a gift of God to us. It's a gift of God. We'd be beggars if it were not
for His grace in this world. We'd be on the street today if
it were not for the grace of God in providing for us. There's better people than us,
probably, that are out on the street today, that are out there
without better people than we are, maybe not as bad of sinners
as we are, that are out today homeless in this world. Job equally saw God's hand in
not only giving, but in taking away. What would Job have said if he
hadn't been a believer? What do you suppose he would
have said? You've been around people, haven't
you, that had some misfortune in this world? That had some
losses? Had some real bad times? What'd they say? I'll tell you
what, I wouldn't want to repeat it. I wouldn't want any of you
to ever say, well I heard the preacher say one time somebody
said such and such and so and so, so I'm not going to repeat
what I've heard people say when they were in trouble. But I'll
tell you what, if old Job hadn't been a believer, you'd have heard
a whole lot different story than what you read in verse 21 of
chapter 1 of the book of Job. You'd have heard a whole lot
more. We often find fault with secondary agents But Job said,
had nothing to say about the Sabians or the Chaldeans, the
wind or the lightning, the Lord, he said, had taken away. Well, to know that it's God's
hand, one man, to know it's God's hand that
took it, that ought to take the sting out of the stroke, To know
that nothing can happen in this world without God letting it,
without God being the first cause of all things, ought to take
the sting out of the stroke. Seems like Job would be saying,
don't mind the secondary agents. Don't spend your time and your
strength kicking at them. They're responsible to God for
all the evil they do, but back of your situation is divine predestination. It's God having done his own
will in the matter. So worship. An overruling hand
is the hand of the Lord. Eli said, let him do what seemeth
him good. Job did right in calling attention
to this truth that God is everywhere at work whether it be in giving
to one man while he's taken from another. He did right. He says the Lord that gives and
the Lord that takes away. The last thing is this, Job's
comfort lay in this truth that God is worthy to be blessed in
all things. He said, blessed be the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord. Let us never rob God of his praise,
however dark the day is. God should be praised as much
on a day when there's a funeral as he is on a day when there's
a wedding. Would you agree with that? Would
you agree with that? God is to be praised as much
on a day when there's a funeral as he is on a day when there's
a wedding. You know, if you took seriously what the book of Ecclesiastes
and the book of Proverbs says, and I'd recommend to all of you
that you Get your Bible down, begin to read again. You'd find
that the day of one's death is better than the day of his birth.
You'd find it'd be better to go to the house of mourning than
it would be to go to the house of mirth and laughter and dancing
and frivolity in this world. It's better to go to the house
of mourning. That's what the scripture says. Somebody says,
well, I can't praise God. Business is bad. Well, Job would
say, well, praise God anyway. Bless the Lord. My health is
gone, preacher. Well, bless God. Bless God. That's not easy to do. Bless
him for both giving and taking. God is special to be praised
by us whenever we're moved by the devil to do what Job's wife
said he ought to do. When Job's wife said, you just
curse God and die. You're going to keep on maintaining
your integrity? Curse God and die. God ought
to be praised right then. You ought to say, OK, devil.
OK, devil. You say I ought to curse God
and die. But I'm going to bless God. That's
what I'm going to do. I'm going to bless him right
in your face. In your face, devil. I'm going to bless God. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of our God. The man who does just the opposite of
what the devil says is a man that I'd just like to have as
a friend. The man who does just the opposite of what the devil
says does. The devil says, curse God. Well, I'm looking for the
man who says, well, let's bless God. Let's bless the Lord. Never do what the devil says
to do. Always bless the Lord. And so I think these are the
things that we should reflect upon in times when we are saddened
greatly by afflictions in our own life, trials in our own life,
and when we see things happening around us that greatly afflict
our nation. and the people of our nation
is we ought to go back to the book of Job here and we ought
to get these solid facts down and begin to deal with them again
and look at them and consider them. And you know one of the
things I think that's wrong with all of us is that we all consider
ourselves, we take ourselves too seriously. All of us, I think,
have a tendency to think that we're more important than we
really are. I think also that we have a tendency
to sometimes believe that our situation ought to be spared
at all cost. At all cost, our situation ought
to be spared. You remember Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego in the Old Testament? Well, now they said God can deliver
us, but if he doesn't, if he doesn't, we'll not bow down to
old Nebuchadnezzar. We won't do it. We will not sin
in order to spare our own lives. We ain't gonna do that. We're
not gonna do it. And we all take ourselves too
seriously. We all think we're too important.
And so when great trials and calamities come, there's gotta
be some Gotta be some answer given to us that is unique and
special to us as an individual. And we just overlook many of
the plain teachings of the Word of God in those times. And we
need to come back to where old Job was and said, well, I just
came out of the womb naked. Sure, I've had this and I've
had that and I've got these albums. I've got stacks of albums showing
all I've had, but it's all gone. It's all gone. We just gotta
come back to old Job. He said, I come out. I come in
this world naked. I'm going out the same way. That's
the way I'm going out. Don't take it too serious, brother,
sister. Believe what the Word of God
says. Believe what the Bible says. There's a poem or two that I'd
like to share with you before I leave. O love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee. That's a good sentence, isn't
it? I rest my weary soul in thee.
Things future nor things that are now, not all things below
nor above can make him his purpose forego or sever my soul from
his love. That's blessed. His love in time past forbids me to think he'll leave
me at last in trouble to sink. Each sweet Ebenezer I have in
review confirms his good pleasure to help me quite through. The
Lord is with his people. Saints by the power of God are
kept Till the salvation come, we walk by faith as strangers
here, till Christ shall call us home. Let's trust the Lord
and pour out our hearts before Him and believe Him and worship
God. Father, in the name of Jesus,
take these few scattered remarks today and give healing to our
hearts and do heal our nation. May it please you to turn the
hearts of the people of this nation back to you and back to
fellowship and worship of a true God. May we all be strengthened
and helped in our pilgrimage as we travel in this world. May
we be holding to the anchor and may we be kept by the thoughts
and truths of Holy Scripture. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.