Turn back, if you will, with
me this morning to the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John. John chapter
14. I'd like for you to look, if
you would please, at verse 27. At verse 27. Peace I leave with
you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. And then my subject this morning
is these words. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Now the Lord Jesus Christ in
John chapter 16 in verse 33 said this. He said, in the world ye shall
have tribulation. In the world ye shall have tribulation. Now meaning that in the world
that the people of God would experience trouble. They would
have trouble, they would have trial. And in the Psalms, the
book of the Psalms chapter 34 and verse 19, it says, many are
the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out
of them all. Now the afflictions of God's
people are varied and many. Now these burdens that the people
of God bear, all the people of God share in, none of us are
exempted from these trials and these burdens that must be borne
in this life. Now, we read in Hebrews 13 and
verse 2, it says, Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with
them, and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the
body. And so as we think upon the people
of God and their afflictions and trials, and we could mention
several of the Lord's people that we know in this world that
are undergoing trials, undergoing afflictions, and many tests at
this time. However, I think it suffices
to say that it is a fact that in the world ye shall have tribulation. And we see these words of our
Lord Jesus Christ, we see them being fulfilled every day as
we live out our life here in this world, in this pilgrimage.
We see those very words being fulfilled. Now, if you've not
yet wept, then you will weep. And if you've not yet undergone
suffering and sorrow and pain, you will, you will, ere your
life ends, undoubtedly you will undergo suffering, sorrow, and
pain. You just will because sickness
and disease and poverty and bereavement and loneliness These are things
that are just common to our race. They're common to our race. They're
common to this world in which we live. God's people are not
exempted. God's elect are not exempted
from these things, and we must learn that. But somehow or other
we get the idea in our heads by the foolish preaching of the
modern day charismatics that God's people somehow or other
are to be exempted from these things. Well, that's not so.
Let them say what they will, that's not so. God's people will
experience pain, suffering and sorrow, bereavement, loneliness,
and all other things that are common to our race. God's people
will not miss those things. The Lord's people will have tribulation
in this world, and through much tribulation, we're told in the
book of Acts, we will enter into God's kingdom. Now our Lord said,
in this world you will have tribulation, but he added these words of comfort. He said, but be of good cheer.
But be of good cheer because I have overcome the world. Now let us go back this morning
to the text that we read here, verse 27 of John 14, and Christ
had told his disciples that he was going to leave the world
and that he must be crucified by cruel men and that he must
return unto his father. Now they did not understand all
that the Lord Jesus was talking about, and their hearts were
troubled. And I'm sure they ask among themselves,
what are we going to do? We have left all and followed
this man, and now he tells us that he's going to leave us. Their hearts were indeed troubled.
So he tells them in verse 16 and 17, he said, I'll pray the
Father, and he'll give you another comforter that he may abide with
you forever. He will come and he will abide
with you, and he won't ever leave you. He will never leave you
as I'm about to do. Even the Spirit of Truth, whom
the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth
Him, but you know Him, for He dwelleth with you and shall be
in you. Now then, in verses 25 and 26,
we read further, These things have I spoken unto you, being
yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you. Now then, thank God for his peace. He said, peace I leave with you. He said, now this peace that
I give you, it's not as the world giveth. It's not as the world
giveth. He says, I give you this peace.
And this peace, first of all, this is my peace. This is the
peace I have. Think of that, the peace that
I have. Can you think this morning or
can you just imagine for just a moment the peace that the Lord
Jesus Christ that he had. Now I'm sure that he had not
one doubt as to the fulfillment, the ultimate victory and fulfillment
of every word that had proceeded from the Father. I'm sure that
he had no doubt as to the purpose of God for him in this world
and the outcome of that purpose. I'm sure that he believed that
his life was in the hands of the Father and that nothing could
befall him until the hour appointed of the Father. I'm sure that
he had absolute peace and rest in his soul as to all matters. Now that's what I'm trying to
say. His peace. Now he said that He said, peace
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you. The peace that I have,
the peace I procure, the peace I perform, the peace I give. My peace I give unto you. What a legacy! What a legacy
that the Lord Jesus Christ left unto his people. Not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Now, in the most gentle and loving
and charming tones, our Lord says to his disciples, yes, even
to you and to me this morning, if we're believers on the Lord
Jesus Christ, if we're in Christ, and if our sins have been put
away, he's saying this to us. He says to us, let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Now the Lord Jesus, I
said in the most gentle, charming, loving tones, says this unto
His disciples. And I want, if I can this morning,
to help those of you that truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
to enter in to the meaning of those words, to understand those
words, and to somehow or other have the comfort and the blessing
of such an experience here in this world wherein our hearts
are no longer troubled and we're not afraid. We're not living
in fear in this world. If we would but believe God,
our hearts would be at peace. Would you this morning agree
with that statement? If we would but believe God,
our hearts would be at peace. You write it down if you want
to. There is no reason, there is
no reason for any child of God to be perpetually vexed with
a troubled and fearful heart in this world. There is no legitimate
reason. for a child of God to be perpetually
vexed with a troubled and fearful heart. There is absolutely no
reason for it. George Mueller made this statement. He said the beginning of anxiety
is the end of faith. Now George Mueller is the man,
you remember, that built the orphanages and he supported by
faith those orphanages and raised many, many children. Many, many
children owe their support to the faith of George Mueller. and to the faithfulness of the
God of George Mueller. And he said, the beginning of
anxiety is the very end of faith. And he went on to say, and the
beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety. Now what he is
saying is this. When we worry, we do not believe
God. When we believe God, we cease
to worry. This is what the man is saying.
When we believe God, then we just quit worrying. Another man
said, anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered
in anything short of God and His will for us. Now, I think
that is a very good statement because many, many times we just
simply have not yet come to the place where our hopes are centered
only in God and the outworking of His good and perfect will. Our hopes are centered in other
places, and so we're bound to be troubled in heart, vexed in
heart, and fearful in heart when we are not thus founded. Now
I want to call your attention this morning with three things.
I'm going to just fill the message up with these three things in
particular. And I want you to follow me.
I want you to pay attention if you can. I want you to listen
to what I'm saying. If you listen this morning to
what I'm saying, And if you'll examine these things and meditate
upon these things, it'll solve a lot of the problems in your
life. And I'm not preaching down to
any of you. I cannot do that. But I know
what I'm talking about in these matters. I know exactly what
I'm talking about. I have fought many battles on
this turf right here. And I want you to listen this
morning to what I have to say. Number one, Our Lord said, let
not your hearts be troubled, and with those words He gives
us a gentle reproof. Now, this is a reproof any way
that you look at it. Our Lord is telling us here that
we ought never to be anxious, we ought never to be fearful,
we ought never to be worried. And now this is, I say, a gentle
reproof by the Lord Jesus Christ. He would have us to cast our
care upon Him and to trust Him to provide for us, to protect
us, and to guide us in all things. Now the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter
chapter 5, and if you have your Bible and if you would be pleased
to do so, you turn to 1 Peter chapter 5 and you'll notice in
verse 6 and verse 7, where he said, Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due
time. Humble yourselves, he says, bow
down to God's hand, bow down to God's will, bow down to God's
providential direction, that he may exalt you in due time. And then in verse 7, he says
this, Casting all your care upon Him. Casting all your care upon
Him. Roll all the burdens of your
life. Roll them upon the Lord. Cast
them upon Him. And then He says that we're to
do this and He gives us here a word that will give us confidence
to do that because He says, He careth for you. He careth for
you, so roll all your burdens upon the Lord." Now he's saying,
stop worrying and let not your heart be troubled and bow down. Bow down to God, bow down to
His will, bow down to His pleasure and submit yourself unto God
and cast all your care on Him and your heart will be kept.
Now, I don't want to shock anybody or offend anybody, but beloved,
listen to me now. The troubled hearts do not arise,
well, let me say it a little bit of a way, a little better
way. Beloved, troubled hearts arise from trouble in our hearts. It arises from trouble within
us, not from outside, but from trouble within our hearts. That's when we have heart trouble,
is when it comes from within. It's not something that is produced
by what happens outside of us. Now, you'll have to listen to
me carefully. It's not our outward circumstances and troubles that
cause troubles in our hearts, but rather it is our inward sin
and rebellion and unbelief that causes heart trouble. Now, I
want you to think about that. You say, Preacher, my troubles,
my sicknesses, my heartaches, my burdens, all cause me depression. No, beloved, it is not your sickness,
your heartache, and the various burdens that you're bearing in
life that causes you this depression. It is sin within you that causes
you to be cast down and depressed. Many, many times our depression
can be traced to sin and to unbelief in our hearts. Now then, I've
seen sick people who were full of cheer and happiness and joy
and delight before God. You say, well, poverty causes
men and women to murmur and causes them to complain against God. If men had enough, if nobody
was short, if nobody had the shorts, then there wouldn't be
any murmuring and complaining. But beloved, listen, this is
not so. Sin causes men and women to complain against and before
God. Believe it or not, there are
poor people in this world who are content before God. There
are some of God's dear people who are content before God even
though they are in a state of poverty. Trouble will cause our
hearts to be troubled. This is not so. No, no. Because it is sin which causes
heart trouble in believers. You mark it down. It is sin. Now there are five besetting
sins that cause our hearts trouble. And again I want to make this
clear that I'm not preaching down to you this morning because
I can't do that. What I would say to myself will
probably hit right home in your heart. It'll probably touch just
the right spot in your own heart this morning. Now these are things
that I have to acknowledge, that I have to confess. before God. And I've had to do it on a number
of occasions. And I'm telling you the truth.
I'm here this morning, I'm dedicated to telling you the truth the
best I know it and the best I understand it. I'm not here to in any way,
shape, or form cast reflection upon anybody and make anybody
feel little. I'm here this morning to help
you if I can. And I'm telling you there's five
besetting sins. And I know that anytime Any time
that my heart is vexed with worry and anxiety and any time the
spreading and murmuring and complaining and fear that I can trace the
trouble of my heart to one of these five sins, if not all of
them at once. And I'm telling you the truth.
Now, first of all, the first of these five besetting sins
is, number one, is pride. And pride is the cause of heart
trouble in the people of God. Sorrow usually springs out of
ourselves. Spurgeon said, when self is conquered,
sorrow is to a great extent banished from the human heart. It is pride
which makes us think that the sun ought always to shine on
us. It is pride which makes us think
we ought to always walk in silver slippers on smooth paths. That's pride. It is pride, self-love,
self-esteem, a sense of self-worth which causes us to rebel against
God's sovereignty and God's providence and to resist the will of God. It is, I say, pride, self-love,
and self-esteem. It is a sense of self-worth which
causes us to rebel against God's sovereignty in our lives. Now,
if you would, turn back to the book of Isaiah chapter 45. Isaiah
chapter 45, and I want us to look here this morning, beginning
here with the sixth verse. Isaiah 45 and verse 6, where
the Lord says, I am the Lord and there is none else. There
is no God beside me. And then in the last part of
verse 6, I am the Lord and there is none else. Verse 7, I form
the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil,
I the Lord do all these things. Now the Lord God here has been
describing Himself. The children of Israel, they
murmured and complained that they rebelled against God's hand,
and the Lord says to them, I am the Lord, there's nobody else.
He says, there's no God besides me. He says, I form the light
and create darkness. I make peace and create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. I'm the one that when you have
peace, and when things go smooth, and times are good, and the cupboards
are full, and there's money in the bank, and the job is secure,
the family's in good health. He says, I am the Lord. I do
all these things. I'm the Lord. I'm the one. I
make peace. I make for peaceful circumstances. I, the Lord, do this. And when
trouble comes, when the bank account is depleted, and when
the cupboards are empty, and the family's ill, and everything
is going wrong, I'm the one who creates evil. I'm the one who
creates evil. Now then, in verses 9 and 10,
you look at this. He says, Woe unto him that striveth
with his maker! Let the potter strive with the
potters of the earth! Shall the clay say to him that
fashioned it, What makest thou or thy work? He hath no hands. Woe unto him that saith unto
his father! What begettest thou? Or to the
woman, what hast thou brought forth? Now the Lord God is saying
here, Don't you fuss with me! Don't you strive with me. Don't
fuss with me. Don't get angry with me. I have
done these things now and you bow down. I create peace and
I create evil. And apart from me, these things
will not exist. I do all these things. And all
in the world, beloved, that keeps us from bowing down to God's
sovereignty and bowing down and submitting ourselves to the providential
circumstances in our life is pride. Pride keeps us from submitting
ourselves unto a sovereign God. We'll find no comfort for our
hearts in this world till our pride is broken and until our
hearts are subdued. Until our pride is broken and
our hearts are subdued and we bow before God Almighty and commit
and submit ourselves unto Him, there will be no comfort in our
hearts. Now then, you say it can't be
done, preacher. Well, it was done. It was done
by a man who lived in the days of Abraham, a man by the name
of Job. He certainly did it. And if you'd
want to turn back quickly to the first chapter of Job, if
you don't, just listen. You know what happened to old
Job in Job chapter 1, and all the calamities that came upon
him, and the loss of his goods, and the loss of his children.
And Job, we're told in verse 20, arose, rent his mantle, shaved
his head, and fell down upon the ground, and he 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 this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Satan
went right back to work on the Lord and wanted permission to
touch his flesh. And the Lord gave him that permission
and said, you go ahead, but you save his life. And so Satan went,
you remember, and Job had boils from the sole of his foot under
the crown of his head. And his wife looked at him one
day, and he looked bad, and she said, Do you still retain your
integrity? And she said, you curse God and
die. And Job said, you're a foolish
woman to speak that way. What, shall we receive good?
In verse 10 of chapter 2, shall we receive good at the hand of
God and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job
sin with his lips. And then Job's friends, you remember
they came and They came to mourn with Him, and when they lifted
up their eyes afar off, they knew Him not. He was in such
shame. I mean, He had them boroughs all over Him, and He was so disfigured,
and in such agony, they didn't even recognize Him. And what
did they do? Well, they sat down with Him
upon the ground, and seven days and seven nights they never spoke
a word unto Him because of His misery and His grief. But in
all this, Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. Job believed
God, and while these trials sorely vexed him, he said, I'll trust
Him. Though He slay me, I will trust
Him. I'll trust God in this matter. So don't tell me it can't be
done. It has been done, and it's been done many, many times by
the Lord's living family. Now, the second sin that I want
to point out, the first one was pride, and the second one is
plain old unbelief. The sin of unbelief is a cause
of heart trouble. Worry, anxiety, and fear are
the fruits of unbelief. Worry, anxiety, and fear are
just, if you please, are just pleasant words for the sin of
unbelief. That's what it is. Just call
it what it is. You say, Preacher, I'm worried.
Preacher, I'm fretting. Preacher, I'm just full of fear. Well, that's just unbelief. That's
what it is. You say, you just don't understand,
do you preacher? You don't understand what I'm
going through. Yes, beloved, I do understand
this morning the frailty of human nature. I do understand the physical
constitutions of men. And I do understand the awful
trouble and the heartaches and the heartbreaks of this world. I understand all of that. but I also understand what I'm talking about. I know
what it means to have this fretfulness and this worry and all of this
carrying on, the murmuring, the complaining. I've experienced
all of that. Worry, one man said, is faith
in the negative. Worry is trusting the unpleasant. Worry is the assurance of disaster. Worry is belief in defeat. Worry
is the interest that we pay on tomorrow's trouble. We anticipate
difficulty, so we sit around and worry about it today. What
I'm saying is if I trust God as a believer should, there is
nothing that I can reasonably fear. I want you to listen to
that again. If I trust God as a believer
should, There is nothing that I can reasonably fear. There is nothing that I can with
reason worry about. There's nothing that I can with
reason anticipate with anxiety. Did you get that? My friend,
I want you to understand what I'm saying. Worry, anxiety, and
fear, that is the reason, the very reason, that Israel perished
in the wilderness. I want you to turn back, if you
will, to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 6, and look at verse
24 and 25. Matthew, chapter 6, verse 24
and 25. In verse 24 it says, No man can serve two masters, for either
he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold
to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot serve God and mammon. The reason that we worry, the
reason we fret, the reason that we stew is because we serve ourselves
and we are pretending to serve God. Now that's the reason for
it. Now the Lord Jesus said, therefore I say unto you, take
no fault for your life. What you shall eat, what you
shall drink, if you have a single eye toward me, I mean if you
know me, if you love me, if you're in me. He said that if you're
serving God, then don't take any thought for your life, what
you drink, what you put on your body, what you're going to put
on, because the life's more than meat, the body's more than raiment.
Verse 31, therefore take no thought. saying, what shall we eat or
what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed for all these
things? Do the heathen seek? For your
heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God. Seek the kingdom of God
first and His righteousness and all these mundane things shall
be added unto you. They'll all be added. Take therefore
no thought for the morrow. Oh ye of little faith, don't
be thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow will take care of itself. And the reason that we have so
much trouble here is because we got some stuff going on the
side that doesn't have anything to do with God or His will and
we're just pretending to serve God. and everything happens and
it just, oh, it just knocks us out of business and we just somehow
or other cannot, we just can't take it because there's so many
adverse things happening in our life and we're serving mammon.
That's the problem. We're serving mammon and not
serving the God of the Bible. We won't leave our interest with
Him. After all, He cannot be trusted
with what I eat, what I drink, and with what I wear. We can't
trust God to take care of those things. He said He would, but
we can't trust Him to do it. Because, after all, you know,
we're not going to get our way in this situation. Now, you think
with me a little bit. I said pride and unbelief is
the cause of heart trouble. The third besetting sin is covetousness. Covetousness. Now, most of our
heart's trouble and fear, worry, and uneasiness and anxiety comes
from, it arises from the root of covetousness. You say, preacher,
what on earth are you talking about anyway? Now you listen
to me just a minute. Most of our heart trouble, uneasiness
of heart, anxiety, worrying, and fretting, complaining, so
on and so forth, is because we want, we want what God has not
given. We want what God has not given. We want what God has not done. We want God to do something that
he hasn't done and that he's not willing to do and therefore
we fret and we stew and we have our trouble. And beloved, our
prayer ought to be God help us to let our conversation, our
manner of living, be without covetousness and be content with
such things as we have as God has provided in His providence
in this world. Hebrews 13, 5 and 6. And the
cause, it goes on in verse 6, he says, for he has said, I will
never leave thee. No, that's the last part of verse
5. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. And then verse
6 says, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and
I need not fear what any man shall do unto me. And so, beloved,
if our conversation is free of covetousness, Then we shall be
content with such things as we have. The Lord said, I'll never
leave you. I won't forsake you. I'll stand by you. And you don't
have to fear what man shall do until you can boldly say, the
Lord is my helper. Well, I have no use for Roman
Catholicism, and you know it's the truth. But I heard a testimony
of a priest that had lived for 40 years, or been in the priesthood
for 40 years, and he said that he had heard thousands of confessions
in the confessional booth. But yet he said, I never heard
one confession of covetousness. Not one person in all the 40
years that he had heard confessions did he hear anybody ever admit
to covetousness. Yet that, beloved, is the very
root of discontent. It's the root of worry. It's
the root of fear. It's the root of the uneasiness
in this world, covetousness. All right, now that brings me
to the fourth besetting sin, and that is envy. And this is
the trouble that David had in the, I think, 73rd Psalm. He
was envious at the prosperity of the wicked. He said, I want
what the ungodly have because they don't have any trouble.
They go about and they are very bold and courageous and they've
got the things of this world and they're prospering. And he
said, I want what they have. I have washed my hands in innocence.
Because the wicked are doing better than I'm doing. And I
think that I should have at least their affair in this life. I said, it is a foolish thing
to serve God. Now, later on in the chapter,
he comes to his senses and says, I was as a beast before thee. He said, I was a beast. I felt
like an animal when I was saying those things. Envy. is the most loathsome and most
vicious child that pride ever sired. Envy is a denial of God's
providence. Envy says, God's providence? Well, what's that? This man over
here's got something. He's not as good as I am. I ought
to have it. Why should he have it and I not
have it? Envy! is a denial of providence. You look about you, and you look
at other people's situations, and you envy that, and it gives
you heart trouble, and you're bothered, and you begin to complain,
and you begin to murmur before God. You have denied the providence
of God. Envy is the cause of heart trouble. Now then, it's hard because as
a moth eats a claw, so envy eats a man. Envy will eat you up if
you allow it to. And envy, it's very hard to keep
envy from our hearts. Just as it would be hard to keep
two lovers apart. So it would be hard to keep our
hearts and envy apart. Because we're just envious by
nature, aren't we? We just look around and every
day we can't drive anywhere, we can't go anywhere, we can't
look at a magazine, we can't read a newspaper, we can't hear
the good fortunes of others. unless that old loathsome, vicious,
ugly thing of envy raises its head in our hearts and makes
us discontent and makes us feel that we, you know, that we've
just been slighted and that God has not favored us like he ought
to have. That's envy. Now then, the last
thing is this, and that is self-pity, self-pity. Troubled hearts are
usually peevish and full of self-pity. Self-pity is the sum of pride,
unbelief, covetousness, and envy all added up together. That's
what it is. Self-pity. My friend, the Spirit
of Christ is not self-pity. It is self-denial. Is that right? The Spirit of Christ is self-denial. Heart trouble and fear arises
from pride, unbelief, and covetousness, envy, and self-pride, self-pity,
self-pity. So we have the reproof then that
is given by our Lord, this gentle reproof. Let not your heart be
troubled, neither let it be afraid. Now number two, the number two
thing, and I've got to hurry here. When Jesus said, let not
your heart be troubled, he gave us a gracious reason for that. We find that in verse 31. Look
at this phrase, but that the world may know that I love the
Father, but that the world may know that I love the Father. Now, much that Jesus Christ did,
He did that He might bring honor to God in the midst of His enemies.
Now, I don't want anyone to misunderstand me. We ought not do things so
that the world would look upon us and approve of us. not like the pharisees and the
legals of our day would have us to keep up a good appearance
before men. In other words, make sure that
when we're in public that we do everything just right, that
we don't do anything to in any way suggest to anybody that we're
not good pharisees. In other words, maintain this
good image before people. But I want to say this, The Lord
Jesus says, but that the world may know that I love the Father.
Men are watching, I believe. They're watching God's people.
Here are the people of God. They've been left in the midst
of the land. They're poor and afflicted and tested and tried
people, people that are to trust in the Lord. And the world is
watching us to find a reason to blaspheme the God of sovereign
grace that we preach and that we love and that we worship. They're looking for a reason
to blaspheme this God. Now our prayer ought to be, Father,
don't let me give any man a reason to blaspheme your holy name,
but that the world may know that I love the Father. I want to
live and bear the trials and the difficulties of life in this
world in such a way so that I would give no man reason to mock the
gospel of free and sovereign grace. No man a reason. Now,
I thought about this a little bit, that if an unbeliever were
to stand next to us and observe us as we undergo suffering, tests,
trials, difficulties, adversities in this world, and they would
watch us and listen to us, I wonder what they would say about our
God. What would they say about your
God after listening and watching you undergo trial and difficulty? They would think that the gospel,
at least as they had been around at the right time, they would
have thought that the gospel was of very little use to us. What good is the gospel to that
person? What good is God to that person? If the gospel that you believe
will not sustain you in the hour of trial, why believe it at all? Why believe the gospel? Listen,
if it's only good for a good and pleasant day, then why believe
it at all? Because you're going to have
some other kind of days besides the good and the pleasant. If
the God you worship is only in control when things are going
well, then why worship this God if He only is in control when
things are going well with you? Why worship God at all? We must live and bear up under
our trials so as to give no man a reason, so as to give no man
a cause to deride our faith and also that no weak believer would
be made to stumble by our carrying on. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. Believers ought not be troubled
in heart. Believers ought not be fearful.
Believers ought not be anxious, because such a spirit comes from
evil and it leads to evil. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. There's a good reason for this,
because heart Trouble and worry and fear and anxiety, it has
a tendency to make us selfish. Self-centered people. Now you
know it does. You know very well it does. When
you're fearful, when you're anxious, when you're fretting, when you're
complaining, when you're murmuring, then who are you thinking about? Tell me the truth. Who are you
thinking about? Well certainly, my friend, there's
no question about it if we're honest that we would have to
admit that we're only thinking about ourselves. We're just thinking
about ourselves, that's all. We're not thinking about, well
I'm certainly not thinking about the preacher, I'm not thinking
about the neighbor next door, I'm not thinking about some weak
believer, I'm thinking about myself. How can I solve this
problem? How can I defend myself against
all these accusations? How can I provide for myself
after all God's not doing a very good job of it? How can I get
what I want in this world? How can I change my circumstance? How can I do it? So who are you
thinking about? You're thinking about yourself
and you're thinking about yourself only. I tell you that heart trouble,
it leads to selfishness and self-centeredness of life. Now, I want you to know
this, that the only useful person in the Church of God, the only
useful person in the family of God, in the living family of
our God, is a person who believes God. who trusts God, who relies
upon God, who casts himself upon God, and sink or swim, live or
die, whatever comes, he's gonna trust God until the end, and
he'll leave it in God's hands. That's the only useful person
in the family of God. Now then, this heart trouble
I'm talking about, it's a very contagious disease. It's contagious. When others see our mournful
face, hear your mourning words, they hear your murmuring and
complaining and witness your sad disposition, it is very likely
that they're gonna catch your infection. They're gonna catch
it. Because this heart trouble is
catching. And joy and happiness and faith
is catching too. Spurgeon said that he had a deacon
that would meet him at the door. And often on Sunday mornings
in London, England, there was fog and foggy and rainy and just
overcast and very, just a drearful day. And this deacon would meet
him at the front door when he come to church and the deacon
would say, well, preacher, he said, not much sun gonna shine
on us today, but the sun is shining in our heart, isn't it, preacher?
Spurgeon said many a time I had to say well, yes it is and he
said it helped me to just to say it Yes, it is the sun shining
in our hearts now He would meet somebody before service and they
want to tell him some ill tidings some bad situation and Spurgeon
said, don't tell me that now. Wait till after I'm done preaching.
Wait till after I'm done preaching and you tell me now. And he said
this, he said, I always think that there is quite enough misery
in the world without my making any more. I think there's enough
misery in the world without me making any more of it. And brother,
sister, I think those are pretty good words. Now thirdly and lastly,
Let not your heart be troubled. Number one, it was a reproof.
Let not your heart be troubled. There was a gracious reason that
the world may know that I love the Father. And number three,
let not your heart be troubled. And the cure for this heart trouble
you'll find in chapter 14 here and in verse 1. Look at it. Jesus said, let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. believe also in me. Now, beloved, faith in God, well,
let me say it a little bit different. All worry, all fear and uneasiness
and anxiety are totally contrary to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're totally contrary faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in God, believe also
in me, saith the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if I believe in Christ, if
I trust Christ, If my heart is set on the Lord Jesus Christ,
if I believe the proclamation of the gospel, if I believe it,
then here I am in this world and regardless of whatever happens
to me, number one, I am forgiven. I am forgiven. I mean, whatever
happens, let people say what they want to, let whatever happen
in the world, let it happen and come to pass, I am forgiven of
all my sins. I have been redeemed by Christ. I believe in Him, in Christ,
and I am forgiven. And no one can lay anything to
my charge before God. I mean, it's absolutely, I mean,
clear that my past is blotted out and that it will never again
come up before me. That all my sins, past, present,
and future, that they're already canceled and taken care of by
my substitute, my head and representative, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you
believe in God, believe also in me. So friend, whatever happens,
tell yourself this, Well, that happened, but I am forgiven. I am a child of God. Number two,
my union and interest in Christ are perpetually safe. Regardless
of whatever happens, my union with Christ and my interest in
His shed blood is safe and nothing can ever happen. Now think of
this a little bit. Let me illustrate it quickly.
You have a businessman, and he went to a business meeting, attended
this business meeting, and in this pocket he had $25,000 in
cash, in his right-hand pocket. In his left-hand pocket, he had
a handkerchief, a nice handkerchief. It was a good handkerchief, embroidered
on the outside, if you please, and had his initial on it. And
so on the way back from the business meeting, there was a robber that
held a gun to him and took what was in his left pocket, took
his handkerchief. And when he got home, he discovered,
of course, that the $25,000 was still in his pocket. Now, if
that individual was to make a fuss over what he lost, in this world,
then wouldn't you think he'd be ready for the funny farm?
Wouldn't you think that the man, that we ought to call the doctor
if the man would make a fuss over losing that handkerchief
when he still had the $25,000 in his pocket? And a believer
in this world, what little things that we get carried away about
and afraid about and worry about. It's just like that fellow worrying
over that handkerchief and making a big scene over it. My friend,
listen, our union with Christ and our interest in Christ is
perpetually safe and it cannot be touched by any man, any devil
or any man. It cannot be touched. We're absolutely
secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must remember that. And
then too, if we're in Christ, if we believe in Him, then our
troubles have not come by accident. Any of them that comes, They
didn't get here by accident. They didn't get here without
God knowing. They didn't get here without God sending them.
They didn't get here without the Lord, for a reason, knowing
to himself, we may never know it, this side of heaven, but
they're not here by accident. Now, can you believe that? Jesus
said, you believe God? Believe also in me. Believe me. Just believe me. Now he promised
peace. He said my peace. I leave with
you my peace I give you and he promised his presence. He said
in verse 18. I will come to you I will come
to you whatever happens Jesus is coming by the holy spirit
to visit God will visit his presence will be with us Let whatever
happens desert let him go the lord said he will Come to you. How was it there in verse 18?
If I can find it here again, isn't that what it says? He said
in verse 18, I will not leave you comfortless. I will come
to you. I will come to you. And so whatever
happens in this world, mother, father, husband, wife, children,
whatever, whoever deserves it, the Lord said, I'll come. I'll
come to you. I'll come to you. I'll come to
you. Your trials will soon be over.
The Lord would I think say to us, if you believe in Christ,
you can have this consolation that like every day, it has an
end. The day of trouble will have
an end. Your trials, your troubles, your
difficulties will soon come to an end. They're going to come
to an end. And then, in the end, you will
have glory. You will have glory. Faith and
glory is very closely connected in the Word of God. No wonder,
and I'll give you this in close, that Mr. Spafford, when he had
lost his wife and children, could write these words in praise and
worship of God. He said, when peace like a river
attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever
my lot thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with
my soul. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. The cure, believe God and believe
me also. Believe me also. May the Lord
be pleased to own this message. I wish, under God, and I've wished
this so many, many times, and maybe this is one of the reasons
why that I feel zeal in preaching something like this, is if I
could have just heard this, my soul, if I could have heard this,
make no difference how ill presented it was, if I could have just
heard it, When I was, well, I mean, if I could have
just heard it, it would have been a great blessing to me.
At any time in my life, but certainly when I was a young person, the
age of many of you here, if I could have just heard a message like
this, because this, I mean, to me, this shows the very reason
for heart trouble, shows why it's there. and shows us what
to do about it. And may the Lord be pleased to
bless this to your hearts and give you the ability to so meditate
upon it that it'll be a part of you and immediately when you
begin to feel this uneasiness, this fear, this worry coming
on, you'll say, I know what the cause of that is. I'll just examine
this a little bit and I'll tell you exactly why I've got this
problem. I tell you exactly why I've got it. I remember what
that old preacher had to say about this and I know what the
problem is. And here it is. Right here it
is. Wife, here it is. Husband, here it is. Here's why
we're thinking this way and feeling this way. And we'll get it straightened
out. We'll get it straightened out
sooner or later. We'll have some victory, we'll have some comfort,
we'll have some peace. God's running this world, and
the quicker you bow your knee to it, the better off you are.
Just submit yourself. The Lord's gonna see us through
to the end. May the Lord bless you.