this morning to turn your Bibles
to the Book of Luke, Chapter 21. The Book of Luke, Chapter
21. I would like to have your attention. I recognize that I am very inadequate
to be all things to all men, supply every need that everybody
has in their life. I'm here, I stand here as a representative
of the God of the Bible, and I want to be as faithful as I
can be in the presentation of the Word of God and the helping
of your souls. I recognize my insufficiency. Paul said our sufficiency is
of God and any sufficiency that I have, any adequacy for the
work is of course given by God and that which I do not have,
a man or a thing is only what God makes him. I would like to
be more to every one of you. I'd like to help you in your
situations, in your life, in your struggles. in the difficulties
that you encounter day by day. I'd like to be able to help you,
but I'm only a man, that's all I am, and I hope and pray and
trust that God might be pleased to make up the difference between
what I am able to be to you and what you really need that the
Lord will undertake in your lives, that he will meet your needs. One of the things that I think
that is absolutely necessary, I'm convinced of it with all
of my heart, that if we are going to have victory in our individual
lives, if we're going to go on, if we're going to be able to
deal with our problems and our situations, we absolutely must
have a profound faith in the veracity of God's holy word,
God's word. We must believe his word. We
have to believe the word of God. That's, I think, fundamental. It's very fundamental and we
have to face up to the fact that we either believe the word of
God or we certainly are not going to have the victory or be established
in the ways of God. We must believe his word, his
truth, Psalm 117 verse 2 says, His truth endureth forever. God's word is true. Now you say preacher, you don't
understand. I'm in a snare. I've been caught
in a snare. I've been entrapped. I'm in trouble,
I have deep problems, I have serious problems and I don't
know how to get out of those problems. Well let me say that
according to Psalm 91 and verse 3, the Lord said surely, surely
I will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, surely. Now that's a precious promise
And the reason it's precious is because it's sure. He said,
surely I will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler. I think
many, many times we find ourselves ensnared in this world by various
situations, various circumstances, various problems. And the first
thing we know, we're led down the road and we find ourself
in so deep that we cannot get out and that we cannot deal with
our problems. Now listen to me. I want you
to understand what I'm trying to say to you this morning. I'm
trying to say to you that the only victory there is, is the
victory of faith. You must believe God. You must
trust God. There is no one else to turn
to. You must trust the Lord. And
you must depend upon Him to deliver you out of your problem. He said
in the day of trouble, He said call upon Me in Psalm 50 and
I will deliver you. Call upon me in the day of trouble,
and I will deliver you, and you will glorify me. You will live
to glorify me if you'll call upon me, if you'll trust me,
if you'll believe me. You call, and I'll deliver. That's
what God said. Now, there is but one victory. There is but one kind of victory
for a believer in this world, and that is the victory of faith.
There is no other kind. You believe God, you overcome
through believing. You trust God, you overcome through
trusting Him. You overcome through believing
that what he says is true. And you accept what he says,
and you operate and work on the basis and go ahead on the basis
of what God said. The just shall live by his faith. The just lives by what he believes.
And that's the only answer, that's the only victory there is. If
you're expecting some other kind of victory, my friend, it's an
unscriptural expectation. that you have. The only victory
there is, is the victory of faith. You believe God, you trust God,
you depend upon God, you wait upon God, you walk as God directs,
and you go forward as you're enabled by God to go forward. That's the only victory there
is. And whether you're of good health, whether you have a sound
emotional stability, Whatever be your situation, if you don't
have or if you do have, it's the same in both cases. You go
straight ahead, and you trust God, and you believe God, and
you depend upon God, and you don't look around you to see
what's going on with other people. You look straight ahead, and
you look to the Lord, and you trust God, and you depend upon
Him. That is the only solution there
is to your problems. There is no other solution. Now
you can just drag this in and drag that out and drag around
this and that situation and the old carcasses here and there
and it ain't gonna do you no good. What you're gonna finally
do is you're gonna come right back to where I'm telling you
this morning, you gotta trust God. You gotta call on the Lord. You gotta depend upon Him. You
gotta believe Him. And you gotta wait on the Lord
until He surely delivers you from the snare of the fowler.
And the Lord will do that. That word came to me with power
last night. Through many toils and snares
I have already come. And I'll tell you what, I've
been ensnared a number of times and was ashamed of it. Absolutely
ashamed of it. And I'll tell you, the Lord only
can deliver you. Surely! He will deliver you from
the snare of the fowler. He will. The Lord will deliver
you. He will undertake for you. Well, that's just something I
wanted to throw in this morning. But I want you to turn, if you
haven't already, to Luke chapter 21. And I want us to look here
beginning with the 25th verse. And I want to read down through
verse 31. Verse 25 through 31, And there shall be signs in the
sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth,
distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring,
men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven
shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son
of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when
these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up
your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. And he spake to
them a parable, behold the fig tree and all the trees. When
they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that
summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these
things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh
at hand. Let us pray. Father, in the glorious
name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we approach thee and
pray your blessing upon the reading and the hearing of your word
this morning. May the Holy Spirit take the
word and apply it to our hearts. May victory be given unto each
one of our hearts as we look to you this morning and as we
believe your word and as we accept the precepts and admonitions
of your word. We just pray, our Father, that
you would undertake for each one that's gathered in our building
here or in this building this morning in our assembly, may
each one of them be especially spoken to and blessed of the
Lord and be given a word in their souls for their particular situations. We know that some of our brothers
and sisters in Christ are in need and we pray for them that
you will meet their need. We plead for them in the name
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we plead the shed blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ over the needs of our brethren and our sisters,
and we beg thee, our Father, we approach thy throne, and thy
throne is a throne of grace, and we pray, our Father, as you
look not upon us as we stand in the state of nature, but as
you look upon us as we stand in Jesus Christ, We ask and pray
that thou will undertake and intervene on the behalf of our
brothers and sisters in Christ. And then, Lord, we bring and
commit unto you our own lives and our needs and pray and beg
thee that thou will administer grace to our own hearts and our
own souls. May we live to the glory and
praise of Jesus Christ, in whose name we ask, amen. Now then,
this morning, I want to talk to you about this precept, look
up and lift up your eyes, or lift up your heads, that we find
in verse 28. And when these things begin to
come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads, for your
redemption draweth nigh. Now the subject in this portion
of the Word of God, in our Lord's prophecy here, is His own second
coming. Now, I do not believe that you
can apply these verses to any less important subject than to
the second coming of the Lord Jesus. Now, we believe in the
second coming of Christ. I remember back years and years
ago when the Lord first saved me, when I first heard mention
of the fact that Jesus Christ was coming back. and the thrill
of hearing for the first time that the Lord Jesus Christ was
coming back to this earth. Oh, it was tremendous. The electricity
that went through my soul and system when I heard that Jesus
Christ was coming back to this earth. And I have said many times,
and I'm sure you have, quoted the scripture in Revelation,
even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. You remember the two men in white
apparel in the book of Acts, and when the Lord Jesus was taken
up. Let me read those verses. In
verse 9 of Acts 1, And when he had spoken these things, while
they beheld, he was taken up, and a crowd received him out
of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven. This same Jesus, you've seen
Him taken up, He shall come again. This same Jesus shall so come
in like manner as you've seen Him taken up in the glory. And also in Philippians chapter
3 verse 20 and 21, it says, For our citizenship is in heaven.
From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like
unto his own glorious body, according to that working whereby he is
able to subdue all things, unto himself. Now notice this morning
that our focus is to be on this precept in verse 28. And when
these things begin to come to pass, then you look up, and you
lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh. And
then in Ephesians 1 and verse 14, here's a verse of scripture
that was a blessing to me in regards to your redemption draweth
nigh. In verse 14 it says, which is
the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory. Now your redemption
draweth nigh, that purchased possession which our Lord Himself
purchased, our Lord. You know, we are His by choice,
His choice, and we're His by purchase. The Lord purchased
us at Calvary. The Lord Jesus Christ laid down
His life. He bought us by His own precious
blood. He redeemed us and He purchased
our entire person, our body, soul, and spirit. and the Lord
is coming back to receive us unto Himself. And this is the
earnest of that, is the Holy Spirit in us and the fact that
the Lord has bought us, He is coming to receive us unto Himself. He says, I go to prepare a place
for you, and if I go, He says, I will come again and receive
you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. the Lord Jesus is coming back. But then here in the first thing
I want us to see here in Luke chapter 21 that here is a terrible
time in which we're told to look up and to lift up our heads. Our Lord in this prophecy reveals
or exposes to us and our hearts are faint Men's hearts have always
been faint, but our Lord yet exposes unto us some of those
terrible, terrible things that will be at the time of His coming. It is to be a time of fearful
trouble, a time of fearful national trouble. Look at verses 25 and
26. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars, and upon the earth, distress of nations with
perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing
them for fear, and for looking after those things which are
coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. This is an awful picture here.
It's not easy to attach a precise meaning to every part of these
verses, but one thing stands out. One thing is abundantly
plain, that the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ will
be attended by everything which can make it alarming to the senses
and the heart of man. The second coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ is filled with alarming things which can alarm the senses
and the hearts of men. Now let me explain this. If the
giving of the law at Sinai was so terrible that even Moses said,
I exceedingly fear and quake The return of our Lord to earth
in power and great glory shall be much more terrible than the
giving of the law at Mount Sinai. You can just get a picture by
that. And if the Roman soldiers became as dead men when an angel
came and rolled the stone away and Christ rose again from the
grave, how much greater will the terror be when Christ shall
return to this world. Think about that, if you will.
These men, these soldiers, hardened soldiers, while they became as
dead men at the sight and at the experience and at the effects
of this stone being rolled away and the Lord Jesus Christ being
raised from the dead. What shall men do when worldly
business is suddenly stopped and the precious things of the
world are made worthless? What will men do? Now in these
times that are coming upon us, Verse 9, and let me read this
9th verse. I'll go back here in this 21st
chapter and read it. But when ye shall hear of wars
and commotions, be not terrified, be not terrified, for these things
must first come to pass. But the end is not by and by,
meaning that the end is not suddenly upon us. That doesn't mean that
the end is right now. You'll hear of wars and commotions
in the world. But he said, don't be terrified.
Don't be terrified at this. Now, be not terrified for these
things must first come to pass. Now this should not terrify the
believer ever what he hears about. the commotions that he hears
about going on in the world, things going on around him, and
those things that are the sounds of war that we hear about every
day, the war in Yugoslavia, the coming war with North Korea,
which is just almost a certainty. And there's other little skirmishes
going on, but listen, we are not to be terrified at what we
hear, even if war comes to our very door. And it is in a little
different form or different way in our day and time through violence
and through murder and kidnapping, raping and thievery. War is actually
coming to our very doorsteps in our day and time. When was
there ever a time when we have heard of as much violence and
as much crime and the venting of human wrath and human depravity
as we have just recently? Now, it's not for believers in
the Lord Jesus Christ to ever be scared or to become victims
and to be terrified in these times. Now, when I say victims,
I mean victims of fear and victims of these various scares that
that come upon the world. Now the Lord Jesus Christ gives
us this precept for a time when it will be, I believe, impossible
for us to carry it out unless it be by faith in Him. It goes back to what we were
saying earlier, we just must believe God. And we shall never
be able to look up and lift up our heads in times like these
unless we have a profound faith in our God, unless we trust Him
explicitly. Now, there's a second thing here. This will be a time, I think,
of awful physical signs and wonders in the world. That's what verse
25 seems to be talking about. Charles Spurgeon said, it may
be a season of darkness, or the solar system may be disturbed
so that the stars of heaven, which have been fixed for centuries,
shall fall like unripe fruit from the trees. Yet, even at
such time as this, the children of God are to look up and they're
to lift up their heads." They're to look up! The children of God
are to look up and to lift up their heads. And if These signs
should not merely be in the heavens, but if the earth also should
shake and tremble, if that which is supposed to be the most stable
shall become most fickle, and the very foundations of the earth
tremble and shake, yet even then, The child of God is to look up
and to lift up his head. Now this is a precept for the
worst of times supposed. For the worst of times supposed.
This is what you and I are to do when the foundations are shaking. I don't know whether you're familiar
with Psalm 46 or not, but I invite you to turn back there quickly.
Psalm 46. And listen here to a few of these
verses. Beginning with verse 1, God is
our refuge and strength. He's a very present help in trouble.
Therefore, will not we fear though the earth be removed and though
the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea? Though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof, there is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her, and that
right early. The heathen raged, the kingdoms
were moved, he uttered his voice, the earth melted. The Lord of
hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge. Come behold
the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He
maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh
the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot
in the fire. Be still, and know that I am
God. I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Therefore, in verse 2, will not
we fear though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea? Here the writer of the Psalms
said, we won't fear even if the mountains be removed and the
foundations of the earth are shaken. Now you say preacher,
you know, I don't know that I can ever arise to that state where
I won't be afraid when terrible calamitous things like this happen.
I don't see how that I can ever rise to that height. To where
that I'll just be calm and patient to be able to look up, lift up
my head in a time like that. Well, you say, I just don't see
how I can do that. Well, beloved, you can rise to
that only through that one who is able to raise you up to it.
And God only is able to raise us up and to establish us and
enable us to go forward and to lift up our heads and to look
up in a time like that. Only God can raise us to that.
We can't do that in a state of nature. Well, let's move on to
say that this terrible time which our Lord describes here is also
a time of universal alarm. Upon the earth, he said, there
will be a distress of nations. with perplexity, men's hearts
failing them for fear and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth, for the power of heaven shall be
shaken." Now, we could, of course, mention several situations that
are going on. Once secure, mighty Japan now
is being shaken economically. Other nations, along with our
own nation, being shaken economically. Much perplexity and much distress
in nations. And in mighty Russia, today they're
having an election. trying to elect a new parliament.
And we know that according to what we've already heard, much
dissension. There's going to be a tremendous amount of dissension
to the point where they're not going to be able to go on and
do anything, even after this election, because of the dissension
that's going on. Distress. of nations, old people,
people that's not really what I would say is old. I heard a
lady that was 63 years old say from Russia that she just didn't
want to live anymore because there was no reason to live anymore.
Life was so absolutely miserable. Well, there's distress, of course,
in many, many places in this world. And men's heart's failing
them for fear. People are afraid. And the fear
is what's causing their hearts to fail as they go about looking
after those things which are coming. on the earth. They see
them coming, and I think of the frustration in our own government
as they're trying to handle this violence, this terrible outbreak
of violence in our country, and they wring their hands and they
try, they're going to raise the price of ammunition, they're
going to license gun owners, and they're going to do this
and that and something else, and none of them ever get to the
real heart of the issue that we've got a problem, we're a
law and rebellious generation and men's hearts are not in submission
to God or man, and we have all of this, all of these crooks
running out in the streets, they put them in prison, they're out
again on the streets to commit the same crimes that they committed
earlier, excuse me, and there just seems to be a breakdown
of our criminal law system in this country. And so it's a terrible
time, and we need to recognize that and not stick our head in
the sand and say there's no reality to that, because there is reality
to it. It is a terrible time. But you
know, listen, fear is catching. As old brother Barnard used to
say, he said, fear is catching. He says it's contagious. And
when one person trembles, many seem to feel the same sort of
tremor in themselves. And when people at home and abroad,
when they shall be in distress, when everywhere the hearts of
men seem to die within them or turn to stone, as it were, so
they cannot act or move or do anything sensible, in the midst
of crisis, if it should ever come to that, and there should
be a general panic throughout the world, then we have Christ
for our Master, and we must not forget that. We have God for
our Father, we have eternity for our heritage, and heaven
for our home, and then, even in those circumstances, you can
lift up and look up and lift up your heads. And how are we
going to do that? Well, you can't do it without
your Lord enabling you to, as we said earlier. But with God,
all things are possible. In Christ, you can do all things.
He said you can do all things, Paul did, in Philippians 4.13,
through Christ that strengthens you. And in John 15 and 5, Jesus
said, without me, you can do nothing, implying that with me,
you can do all things. Now, if you turn from Him, In
the time of calamity and in perplexity, your hearts quail with fear and
you just are like other men. If you're just like all other
men in the time of national calamity and times of serious trouble
in the world, if you run with them, think like the people of
the world do, and if your strength is where their strength is, then
you'll be as weak as they are. But if you have learned to look
up, and I think there's a great need to habitually, I mean to
form a habit of this, and that is to form a habit that in less
stormy times, I mean when you're not facing a national calamity,
I mean when the foundations are not shaking and you have some
little situation come into your life that That really, if you
examine it carefully and closely, you discover it's really not
as big an issue as you think it is. And if you just make it
a habit in all situations, beginning with the little ones, to lift
up your head and to look up. And instead of letting yourself
develop the habit, every time you get a little problem, put
your head down between your knees and murmur and complain, moan
and groan. If you'd make it a habit with
little things, just look to the Lord, lift up your head and look
up. Now all of us need to listen
to what I'm saying here. In little things I'm talking
about, in little situations that come up in your life, your daily
life. Just don't let yourself go to pieces over just little
bitty things. Because one of these days the
big thing is going to come. Like old Red Fox used to always
talk about the big one. The big one. Talking about the
heart attack, you know. And one of these days the big
situation is going to come. And if you're in a habit of looking
up and lifting up your head in little situations, Then when
that big one comes, that's just exactly what you'll do. You'll
look up, you'll lift up your head because if your portion
is in heaven, many, many voices then that will be speaking at
that time of the Lord's coming, these voices of calamity, these
voices of distress, And thanks be unto God, we shall see him
at his coming. Now, I believe that the Lord's
coming. There's coming a time when he
will appear and he will catch up to his people, those that
are alive and remain. The dead in Christ will be raised
and then those that are alive and remain will be caught up
together to be with him in the air. And we anticipate that coming. That is the great hope of the
church. That's the great hope of believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in anticipation of that glorious
day, the scripture says, then shall the righteous shine forth
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. In anticipation
of that glorious day, each believer can say, with the patriarch Job,
I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for
myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another and not another. Now then, I want us to look,
and I'm going to just close this out. I just feel that I should. I want us to look down at the
bottom here, verses 29. Here we have a parable that I
think shows us some of the, that would give us, I think, some
encouragement to listen to this precept here concerning lifting
up our heads and looking up. and it says verse 29, He spoke
to them a parable, Behold the fig tree and all the trees, and
when they now shoot forth, you see and know of your own selves
that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when you see
these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is
at hand. So now in this parable we see
here that these that summer, he says, we know that summer
is now nigh at hand. When we see the trees shoot forth
the buds, then you know. When you see these things come
to pass then, he said, you know that the kingdom of God is at
hand. Now, summer is the time of the
bursting of the buds, the unfolding of flowers, and the forming and
the ripening of fruit. There may come many a shower
in the spring, there may come many a rain, hard rain, but that's
not going to keep summer from coming. It'll help summer to
come. It may be cold and chilly many
times in the spring of the year. You know, we even have some of
the biggest snows in Montana in the spring of the year, and
that's kind of like storms in our lives. But we have cold and
chilly weather under the black clouds that hovers over us for
a while, but that will not hinder summer from coming. It will not. April showers, they say, bring
May flowers. All these things are the tokens
of the summer's coming. So when you're in trouble, expect
that you're going to have a blessing. Now that's what this is talking
about. Whenever you have trouble, whenever these great, terrible
things happen, both in nations and in your individual lives,
just look on it like Like winter is a time of trouble and the
cold blustery winds of March and February, March and April. This is very chilling, but remember,
that this is tokens of the summer's coming. It just means summer
is coming down the road. And that's what this parable
is about. So when you're in trouble, just expect that you're going
to have a blessing. When you're passing through a great trial,
look out for that. That's just another sign. That's
just another sign that summer is coming. Do not fear to look
up and lift up your head, for the clouds is so much dread.
The poet said, are big with mercy and shall break with blessing
on your head. So look up. Now in blessing on
your head we say, I want us to get into the habit of believing
that in every time of want, every time of pain, every time of depression,
these are but the commencement of a season of blessing. That's exactly what I want us
to do. We want to get to the place that when trouble comes,
just say, well, that's the sign that a blessing is on the way. Now, you know, it's kind of hard
sometimes. to preach these things to people
when you think that probably there's a whole lot of doubt
in our hearts about these things. But I want you to listen. I want
you to listen to what we're saying. Therefore, as you look at the
black bugs on the tree of your life, say to yourself, I wonder
what bright flower is coming out of these bugs. They're about
to burst. What bright flower is going to
come out of these buds? Think of the ugly bulbs which
we put in the ground, yet the flowers which come out of them
are what? They're beautiful. Those flowers
are beautiful. So when God plants some black
and ugly bulbs in the garden of your life, And in the garden
of your soul do not cry out because of their ugliness, but look for
the flowers that shall in due time appear. Expect something
beautiful will come from God's sowing. God has sold these things
and something beautiful is going to come. Jesus said, when they
now shoot forth you see and know of your own self, summer is now
nigh at hand, so likewise when you see these things come to
pass, these things you've been taught, know ye the kingdom of
God is at hand. There isn't anything wrong with
the Kingdom of God being in hand, is there? There's nothing wrong
with the Lord coming, is there? I mean, wouldn't you look upon
that as being the best day of your life? Wouldn't you look
upon that as being a better day than your wedding day? Wouldn't
you look upon that as being the greatest day of the world? The second coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ? Well, I would, but winners got
to come first. Distress of nations. Terrible
times, men's hearts failing them. All of these things has got to
come first. But when they come, then know
that the kingdom of God is at hand and the Lord is drawing
nigh, the time of your redemption draweth nigh. God is with you,
we said that a minute ago, God is in you if you're a believer,
if you're in Christ, and who can stand against Him? If God
be for us, who can be against Him? And the devils of hell,
listen now, the devils of hell cannot keep the spring from going
on to summer, and nothing is going to keep the Lord from coming
after His people and delivering His people. So remember this,
if God before us, if God is in control, and if he's not, we
all better be mighty worried. God is in control, and the Lord
is going to come and deliver us, receive unto himself our
redemption, draweth nigh, receive what he bought. He's going to
have it. Not a hoof will be left behind.
He'll have it all. When the children of Israel left
out of Egypt, it doesn't say not a hoof was left behind. And
that's what the Lord's going to do. He's going to come and
get his own. Not a hoof will be left behind. Now listen, for
those of you who are not believers, you begin to look for a hiding
place. You ought to look for a hiding
place. Now the best hiding place that I know of, being a sinner
like I am, Having been one ever since I was born, I was born
into this world, Scripture says that speaking lies from my mother's
womb, coming into this world, loving sin, drinking sin in like a dog lapsed water out of
a mud hole, being a sinner, nothing good in me. The best hiding place
I know of is the Lord Jesus Christ. And those of you here today that
you don't have a hiding place, let me recommend that Jesus Christ
is the hiding place for sinners. And you hide yourself away in
Him. Believe in Him. Trust Him. Hide yourself, as
Spurgeon would say, in the five bleeding wounds. Hide yourself
there. and the Lord and the judgment
of God will overpass you. The judgment of God has already
fallen on Christ. I hope we can look up and lift
up our heads regardless of whatever problems we have and the stumbling
remarks that were made this morning, may they be in some way blessed
of God to help you to see that whatever you're going through,
just believe God and these ugly things are going to turn into
beautiful blessings. as you trust the Lord. Wait on
the Lord. God has never, never failed me. And He's had many a reason to
from my standpoint. But He never has failed me. He's
never abandoned me. He ought to, but He said, He
said, I'll bring the blind by way which they know not, in paths
which they've not known. He says, I'll make the darkness
light before you. And he said, I'll make the crooked
way straight, but best of all, he said, and not forsake you.
I won't forsake you. I'll never leave you. I will
not abandon you. You can boldly say, the Lord
is my helper. And you need not fear what man
shall do unto you. You need not fear. Just trust
me. Believe me. So may the Lord bless
these scattered remarks to your heart. Let's pray.