Well, I'm honored to be here. If you will, turn to Job chapter
14. I said to your pastor this afternoon,
I said, Todd, we live in troubled times. He said, Boy, that's an
understatement. And we all Don't we thank God
that our Lord has seen fit to bring your pastor thus far through
this trouble? And it's been a great trouble
to you, because we're all one in Christ. When one is troubled,
we're all troubled. And I don't know all of the things
about you But I do know this for certain
about everyone in this building tonight. You either have been,
you are now, or you soon will be in trouble. And I can prove it to you on
the authority of God's Word. Verse 1 of Job 14 says, It pretty much takes us all in,
that's you ladies, too. A man that is born of a woman,
first of all, is of few days. Now, the Scripture says threescore
and ten. That's seventy. And to you young
people, that may seem like a lot of days. But to some of us, we're
getting old enough now to where we realize it's getting to be
a few days. It's just a vapor, isn't it? I was sitting where you little
ones are. It seemed like yesterday, but not now. A few days are about
gone. And it says, all those few days,
they're just full of trouble. Plum full. Are all men trouble the same?
Turn to Psalm 73 with me. And I want you to listen very
closely to what I'm fixing to say to you. It is the special privilege of
believers to have more trouble than the ungodly. You say, Whoa,
did I hear you right? You did. I said it's the special
privilege of a believer to have more trouble than unbelievers
do, than the ungodly do. David had a little bit of a problem
swallowing that pill, and I'll show you that. In Psalm 73, he
said in verse 1, Truly God is good to Israel, even to such
as are of a clean heart. And don't ever misunderstand
The fact that believers have more trouble is meaning that
God's not good to us. Oh, he's good to us. We may have
trouble, but we don't have trouble like we deserve. Like we deserve. God had given the very first
man Adam the trouble he deserved. It went over right then. And
the same with us. He treated us like we deserve. We'd be in eternal trouble right
now. David said in verse 2, ìBut as
for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped.î
What do you mean, David? He said, ìI like to forget the
important things here. I about let something sidetrack
me.î And what was that thing? He said, ìFor I was envious at
the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there were
no bans in their death, but their strength was firm.î Listen, they
are not in trouble. as other men, neither are they
plagued like other men." Now, what David meant was, they're
not troubled like I am. And the proof of that is down
here in verse 12. He says, Behold, these are the
ungodly who prosper in the world, they increase in riches. And
he said, Barely I've cleansed my heart and vein, and washed
my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been
plagued and chastened every morning. See, the believer's days are
just full of trouble. Well, does that mean that God
hates us? Is that what it means? Only the fools are going to believe
that. And it took David a little while
to come to the proper conclusion. Down in verse 16, he said, When
I thought to know this, this principle, he said it was too
painful for me. He said it really bothered me.
He said, I'm sick. He said, I've got men, Saul's
men chasing me all over the country trying to kill me. And he said,
others are just sitting back taking their ease. And he said,
it was painful to me. And he said, it bothered me.
They're not sick like I am. They're not troubled like I am.
And then what happened in verse 17? He said, Until I went into
the sanctuary of God and then understood I therein. I tell
you, our trouble seems pretty big, doesn't it? Until we consider
the end of the whole matter. And that's what we're going to
take a look at tonight. And I want to be cautious. Only the fool
goes looking for trouble. But only the believer can rest
in the fact that his days are going to be full of it. Just
full of trouble. And every believer in due time
is going to have their share of heart-rending trouble. Now,
let me give you just three things tonight. Turn back to Job 5. And I want us to understand where trouble
comes from. In Job 5, verse 6, we see, Although
affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither does trouble
just spring out of the ground. Folks, there are no accidents
with God. If one of us doesn't make it
home tonight, the paper is going to call it an accident. That's
not true. I tell you, when you build a
fire, the sparks go up because that's how they're supposed to
go. And I tell you, when trouble comes our way, it's because it's
supposed to. It's not by accident. And you
see verse 7, he said, Yet man is born into trouble as the sparks
fly up. It's going to come our way. Now
look over at Isaiah chapter 45. And your pastor has taught you
this principle I'm expressing tonight, which is that God is
the first cause of all things, everything. I know he's taught
you that. And while you're finding that,
you're all familiar with Ecclesiastes chapter 3, where these comparisons
are given. It says there's a time to be
born and a time to die, a time to heal and a time to kill, a
time to laugh, a time to weep, to dance and mourn, to get or
to lose. to love, to hate, to peace, to
have peace, and to have war. And you know what the world's
religion teaches today? Well, there's this A-list over
here, you know, and now God's in charge of that. And all those
good things, they come from Him. But now on the B-list, Satan's
in charge of that. Isn't that what they teach? Every
good thing comes from God and all these bad things. And of
course, the natural follow-on to that is, if you don't give
enough, You give plenty, God will bless you. Isn't that what
they say? Well, is that true? Is Satan
in charge of the B list? Well, you look in here in Isaiah
45, verse 5 with me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, and thou hast
not known me. You don't know all the ways I'm
moving and working. that they may know from the rising
of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me.
I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and I create darkness. I make
peace, and I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things."
Well, it looks like some of the things on the B list here, doesn't
it? In the book of Amos, we read,
Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?
He has done it. Now, that doesn't mean that God
is the author of sin. Not at all. God is holy, He is
righteous, and He is undefiled. But now listen to me how this
works. God created Satan and allowed him to fall. God created
man and allowed him to fall. Now listen to me here. And Satan
desires to devour all he can, to sift as wheat and to inspire
all manner of evil. And men, fallen from grace into
sin, we now drink iniquity like water. We're just always looking
for some new invention to defile ourselves. But, folks, God is
sovereign. He's the first cause of all things. And if you don't hear anything
else I say tonight, you listen for the next minute here. Nothing
happens good except at God's specific direction. On the other
hand, nothing evil happens without God's permission. Man can do no good except God
motivate his intentions and cause it to come bear fruit. And no
evil purpose or plan of any man or devil can come to pass if
God determines to prevent it." Did you get that? Do I need to
say it again? The essence of it is that nothing happens good
except God causes it. And nothing evil happens without
God's permission, which makes Him the first cause of all things. The Lord God is in charge. Do
you know why? so that you may know, from the
rising of the sun to the setting of the same, for there is none
beside him. There is none else. And I, the
Lord, do all these things." Now back to Job chapter 2 with me.
And let's look at an example of what I just said here in Job. Todd read this, and in verse
6 of Job 1, We read, Now there was a day when the sons of God
came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also
among them." Do you know what that means? Let me help you with
that. What that means is that Satan
came before the Lord. Do you know why he came? Because
he's a slave. He's a subject, and the Master
beckoned him. His keeper said, That's what
he was doing there. And when he got there, what happened?
Verse 7, ìThe Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou?î Now,
we know that the Lord doesn't ask questions for information,
does he? In the garden, when he came after Adam ate of the
fruit, and the Lord came walking in the cool of the night, he
said, ìAdam, where are you?î He didn't ask that for information.
He knew where Adam was. He was behind that fig leaf. But he asked questions, not for
information, but to get to the heart of the matter. And when
he asked Adam that question, he said, where are you? Adam,
sin always avoids the truth just as long as it can. By nature,
a sinner will refuse to confess just as long as we can. We'll
deny the truth. Adam said, well, he said, I was
naked. That's not answering the question,
is it? So the Lord bore down and said, Who told you you were
next? He said, You eat of the tree.
And Adam says, We still avoid the truth, which is, That woman
made me do it. That's not answering the question, is it? But it got
to the heart of it, didn't it? And God asked Satan his question.
He says, Where have you been? Where have you come from? And
look what Satan answered. He did the same thing Adam did.
He tried to duck the question. He said, well, I'm from going
to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it. We seem to take that as if he's
boasting, like I'm doing whatever I want to do. And boy, we deceive
ourselves, don't we? You children need to learn. You're
not going to go through this life doing what you want to do without
serious consequences. You talk about trouble, you do
what you want to do, you get yourself in trouble. Really,
you better listen to your parents. about the right way to walk. And if we had a lifetime, we
couldn't explore it all. Let me tell you, to one who has been
to the heaven of heavens and has walked among the stars, that's
who Satan is, you know. This earth is a mighty small
prison. And the only way he gets out
and goes before God is if his keeper says, You come here, Satan. And he didn't ask him where he'd
been because God knew where he'd been. The Lord said unto him, Satan, he said, hast thou considered
my servant Job? You see, God doesn't ask questions
for information. He's going to get right to the
heart of this. And if you've got a center reference to really
understand what's going on here, God asked where Satan had been
because he knew where he'd been and knew what was on his mind.
He knew Satan had been down there watching Job. had his eyes on
Job. He was going to sift Job. Do
you remember how the Lord said, Peter, Satan has desired to sift
you like wheat? Satan had been down there looking
at Job, thinking, I'd like to sift him. If you look at the
translation, the Lord says, Satan, have you set your heart on Job?
That's what he asked him. And of course, that's exactly
what Satan had done. Because he thought Job would do what
he and Adam had done. He'd curse God. He'd fall in
sin. And understand this, except for
the grace of God, when we get in trouble, that's what we'll
do. But by His grace, by His grace,
we'll do what Job did. And, you know, if you go through
this whole thing here, you find out, as Brother Todd read, that
the Lord said, OK, you can have him, just don't touch him. So
Satan only went and did these by God's permission. And we read
it here, he took everything he had, didn't he? Killed his children. He still didn't curse God. And
yet, you come back to chapter 2, and we're not going to read
it again, but the same thing happens all over again. After
God let Satan do what he wanted, then he beckoned him back. And
the same words are repeated. He says, where you been? He bragged
the same way. I've been doing what I want to. And he said,
Has thou considered my faithful servant, Jonah? And Satan said, Yeah, well, you
let me touch him. Now you let me touch him. You
say, Well, why is that repeated? And I'll tell you why. It's because
the most difficult lessons for us to learn are the ones that
are repeated over and over and over in the scriptures. And we
need to understand that trouble, that's the first cause of everything.
And there's a reason why he sends it our way. And we're going to
deal with that in a minute. But the second thing I want us to see
is that what are the kinds of trouble there are? Now, the first
one was that he took all Job's material goods. And no doubt
this can be difficult. And as the fellow said, I put
this in perspective for you. When a stranger loses his job,
that's a layoff or downsizing. When your friend loses his job,
that's a recession. When you lose your job, that's
a depression. That's real trouble. Isn't that
how it is? Let me tell you, this was difficult.
But the second kind of trouble was death. Job had ten children,
seven sons and three daughters. They all died in the same hour.
And if you followed all that, you know who else died? All Job's
servants died. And I suspected that house where
those children were had some grandbabies in them, too. Let
me tell you, this is tough. This is tough. And not only that,
you say, well, God spared his wife. Well, which would you rather
have? Would you rather have your wife come and say, why don't
you just curse God and die? Would you rather have her die?
I'm not sure which would be worse. If my wife hated me that much,
that would be awful, wouldn't it? So there was the trial of
death. And then there was finally physical
illness, when Satan let him touch him. And I don't know why, I
mean, which is worse? I don't know. This is just a
sequence in which it came to Job. And the kind of trouble
we're in today, I tell you, Mitch, the kind of trouble you're in,
that's the hardest one today, or else you wouldn't be in it.
The Lord sends whatever trouble we need in the hour we need it
to accomplish His purpose. But there was a fourth kind of
trouble, and we don't hear much about this when I hear Job preached
on. I've never heard much said about this. But this next kind
of trouble is spiritual trouble. You see, after all that's happened
to Job, and he didn't curse God, he just sat there and endured
all this and blessed God. Then three friends showed up,
so-called friends. Boy, they were tough, weren't
they? If you want to go home and read it, it's tough reading,
because they didn't have much good to say to Job. But I'll tell you the worst thing
they did. You know what it is? They preached works to Job. You
want to see that? Turn to Job chapter 4. And you can read down through
most of this, but look at verse 6 and you'll get the gist of
this. Is not this thy fear, thy confidence, thy hope, and thy
uprightness of thy ways? Remember, I pray thee, whoever
perish being innocent. Did an innocent man ever perish? Or where were the righteous cut
off, even as I have seen? Now listen, they that plow iniquity
and sow wickedness reap the same. What this fellow was telling
Job was, he said, Job, I don't know what you did, but now you're
getting what you deserve. Aren't we glad that's not our
God? He gave us what we deserve. We know what real trouble was.
And it's just flat a lie. And I'm telling you, every false
religion comes down to that, that very fact. And the people
of God will always be under attack by false religion and false prophet.
And if it's not come your way, it will. Because they will say
that the trouble you're in is because you do this or don't
do that. And they'll gloat in their lack
of trouble and rejoice in your trouble because it's evidence
to them of their righteousness and your lack of it. The truth is, now hear me here,
the truth is we have no righteousness except the righteousness of Christ.
which is all we need. And they have no real righteousness
except their own, which is self-righteousness. And let me tell you where that
leads to the greatest of all troubles, which is eternal trouble,
eternal death. And that's the final trouble
that comes to all men. That's the fifth trouble that comes
to all men. Listen, you say this eternal
trouble is coming to all men. Even believers? Yeah. You say, am I going to have to
deal with that? See, the difference is, it comes
to all men, but believers have someone who has already dealt
with it. The Lord Jesus Christ, you know what he was doing in
Calvary? He allowed himself to be gotten
in trouble. He was taken. falsely accused, tried, convicted,
and led up to Calvary to be punished, not for anything he did, but
to take care of the trouble that we got ourselves in. He suffered
that eternal trouble, eternal death, for all who believe on
him. So that's the five kinds of trouble, but let me get to
the purpose of trouble. As I've already touched on, it's
going to reveal false faith in self-righteousness. It'll do
that, and I don't want to dwell on that. But turn over to 2 Chronicles
15. Back a few pages to 2 Chronicles
15. Let's talk about the purpose of trouble
for a believer. Because trouble in a believer
reveals faith. Initially, no one is found of
Christ until we realize that we're in trouble. Do you remember? Those of you who are believers,
do you remember when you first realized, I'm in trouble? I'm
lost. We've got to come to that place.
And it doesn't just happen. It's through some kind of trouble.
And the proof of that is here in 2 Chronicles 15, look at verse
4. It says, When they in their trouble,
did turn unto the Lord God of Israel and sought him, what happened? He was found of them. And parents,
we hate to see our children in trouble, don't we? But I tell
you, that may be what it takes for them to see the Lord Jesus
Christ. So maybe let's not be quite so quick to get them out
of it. Turn over to 1 Peter 1. Trouble is also a token to believers
that we're really his children. I said it was a privilege, and
I'll tell you, it's a blessing we have to be in trouble until
our faith one day gives way to sight. In 1 Peter 1, look at
verse 6, ìWherein you greatly rejoice.î We have joy in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Though now for a season, if need
be, you are in heaviness through manifold temptations, through
manifold trials, manifold trouble, that the trial of your faith
being much more precious than of gold at perish." Though it
be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and
glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen,
you love, and whom though now you see him not, yet believing,
you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." Now
turn back to Job chapter 3 with me a minute. Here's another purpose that comes
with trouble, is that it always draws a believer nearer to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And I know some of you can identify
with this experience. Have you ever been in a place
where you thought, I can't make it? I can't endure this. It's overwhelming. It's more
than I can endure. You ever been there? I'll admit
to you, I've been there. And so was Job. Look at Job 3 verse 1. After this opened Job his mouth,
and he cursed his day. And Job spake and said, Let the
day perish wherein I was born. And the night which it was said,
there is a man child conceived. Job was so burdened in this,
he despised the day he was born." Now turn over to Job 6. And he got worse. Job said in
verse 1, Oh, that my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my calamity
laid in the balances together, for now would be heavier than
the sand of the sea. Therefore my words are swallowed
up, for the arrows of the Almighty are within me." Look down at
verse 8. Oh, that I might have my request.
Is it to be better? No. Look what he says. That God
would grant me the one thing that I long for. even that it
would please God to destroy me, and he would let loose his hand
and cut me off." Job said, This is so bad, can I just die? God,
will you just take me where there is no more trouble? Have you
ever been there? Let me tell you something. If
you are one of his own, if you haven't been there, it's coming.
It'll come to you. It'll come to you. One of the
reasons it comes is so that the day arrives when we're ready
to turn loose of this. Those we love, the materials
we have, the spiritual fellowship, healing the gospel, we're ready
to turn it all loose and go to be with Christ. That's one reason
it comes. Folks, this stuff is real. It happens to people. It happens
to believers. And it happens so that we'll
seek his face anew. You see, chapter 5, it had that
effect on Job. Chapter 5, we get verse 8, it
says, I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my
cause. because he doeth great things
and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. Turn to Psalm 22 with me. These terrible trials and troubles
come the way of a believer in order for us to learn the most
vital lesson. How can a person trust How can
a person trust that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to deliver
us from eternal trouble? You know that's what's coming
one day. I mean, men are going to come to that place where they're
faced with the reality of what Adam was told. In the day you
eat there, you're going to die. And being his seed, that's what's
going to happen to us. It's eternal trouble. Men are going to come
to that place. And how are we going to learn
to trust the Lord Jesus Christ by faith to redeem us? You know
what redeem means? Deliver from trouble. Deliver
from that eternal trouble. How are we going to learn to
trust Him in that hour? Except we learn by these lesser
troubles to trust Him, to fall down before Him and worship
Him in evenness. Now, Psalm 22 is the psalm of
the cross, and most of what the Lord said at Calvary when he
was being crucified is recorded here. You see verse 1 of Psalm
22. You're familiar with this. He
cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou
so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my
God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not in the night
season, and I am not silent. At Calvary, there was a man,
a man in desperate trouble. This is trouble we really know
nothing about. Now, it was every kind of trouble
to him. Material trouble, they had taken his robe, taken everything
he had. He was naked there. He knew the trial of death. Let me tell you, everybody had
forsaken Him. They denied Him on no part of Him. They knew
about physical trouble here. They tied Him to a post and beat
Him with a cat of nine tails. They grabbed His beard and poured
it out in a handful. They spit in His face. They smacked
Him. They made Him drag that cross
as far as He could and then up the top of the hill and nailed
Him to a tree, pushed a spear in His side and watched Him die. And he knew spiritual trouble.
All religion had abandoned him. His brethren had denied him.
And his father in God abandoned him, forsook him. And you know
what he was facing in that hour? Eternal trouble. Because he was
a man on whom God found sin. And when he got there in that
place, you know what happened? Look at what he said here in
verse 11. He said, Be not far from me.
That was his cry. And I'll tell you, men, when
they come to this place, are going to cry out, Help me! Help me! And what they're going
to find is what the Lord Jesus Christ found. Trouble is near. Real trouble. Eternal trouble
is near. But there is none to help. In your center reference, you
say there is no helper. You know what every person, every
man, woman and child needs when they come to that place of eternal
trouble? You know what we need? We need
a helper. We need a person. Well, who can
deliver from trouble? The Redeemer. Who's the Redeemer? The Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what He was doing there. You see, for all His people,
for all believers, He was taking that trouble for them. And therefore,
when you come to that place, you won't even have to deal with
it. It won't be trouble for you.
I tell you what, the Lord Jesus Christ either did that for you
completely and it's finished. Isn't that what he said? It's
finished. Or we'll face that trouble someday
along. You say, well, how can I know? How can I know if he
took that trouble for me? Well, I can't answer that. I
can't answer that for you. Whether he took it for you or
not. But I can give you what's a good indicator. Does trouble keep
finding you? Do you keep having more and more
trouble as the years go by and finding yourself having to trust
the Lord Jesus Christ to deliver you? He, by faith, has become
your ever-present help. Does he draw you ever nearer
to him despite the severity of the trouble? Does he? That's
good evidence. That's good evidence. There's
a good chance you're one of his own. Look over at Job 42 with
me, because there is another purpose to trouble. And this
is such good news. The Lord Jesus Christ glorifies
himself through the prosperity of his people. Now, it may not
be prosperity in this life. It may. But it will be the ultimate
prosperity. And let me prove that to you.
When Job had been through this all, into all these trials, all
this trouble, what happened? Look at verse 10. And the Lord turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friends. Also, the Lord gave
Job twice as much as he had. You see, up in verse 12 it says,
So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. Before he had
7,000 sheep, now he's got 14,000. He used to have 3,000 camels,
now he's got 6,000. He had 500 of the she-asses and
oxen, now he's got 1,000 each. Then it says he had also seven
sons and three daughters. Do we see that God gave Job twice
as much as he had before the troubles started? And listen,
God will bless you some way. Somehow, He'll prosper you into
trouble. You can count on it, based on
the promise of His Word here. Anybody here been through what
Job's been through? And when it was over, God blessed
him twice as much. You say, well, it's natural to
think, well, He didn't give him twice as many children, did He?
No, He didn't. You know why? He didn't have
to. Job didn't lose any children. He had seven sons and three daughters
in glory. God gave him seven more and three more. He doubled
them. He doubled them. You say, how
do you know that? Down here it says about Job's
three daughters, verse 15, it says, ìIn all the land there
were no women found so fair as the daughters of Job.î I wish I had known this as a
young man. Do you know who the fairest woman in the world is?
One who loves Christ. I hope you marry a pretty lady.
Be fine. But let me tell you, beauty in
the eyes of men is only skin deep. Fairness in the eyes of
our God is all the way to the heart. And Job's daughter loved
Christ. And he blessed him. He blessed
him. And this whole thing about Job, let me tell you what he
is. He's a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And let me show
you that. Job was the greatest man of the
East, had more possessions than anybody else. Our Lord was in
glory. Everything was his. But boy,
Job came down, didn't he? And the Lord Jesus Christ came
down. He left it all. He came down here to this earth.
And Job suffered. Oh, how he suffered. The Lord
Jesus Christ was marred as no man ever had been. He suffered.
And in due time, Job came back up, didn't he? The Lord Jesus
Christ, he died, but he's risen. And I'll tell you what, Job,
you know, he spoke for his three friends, and God then spoke well
of him. The Lord Jesus Christ sits right now and speaks well
of us, of his people. And just like Job got all his
children, the Lord Jesus Christ is going to have all his children.
That's what he came down here to get. And I'll tell you, Job
lived 140 years. That's an eternity to a man,
isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ sits eternally on the throne
of God. And His right hand interceding for His people. It's a wonderful
picture. If we could but understand. Turn
over to Psalm 121. I'm about done. A few pages over
to Psalm 121. Don, I thank you for reading
this this morning. It encouraged me, made me think,
OK, you've got the right text made. You see, the Lord sends
trouble to one of his children and reveals to them who they
are, a sinner, and who Christ is, the Redeemer, the Deliverer.
Then he has us go out into the world, and boy, there's just
more trouble, isn't there? And we persevere and he preserves
us, even though there's more trouble, until finally he calls
us to come home. to come into his very presence,
where there is no more tears, no more heartache, no more sickness,
no more sorrow, no more trouble. And the promise of all of that
is, look at these two verses here in Psalm 121, verse 7. The Lord shall preserve thee
from all evil. I tell you what, you don't have
to be afraid of evil. You don't have to be concerned
that the Lord said he made it, because he's going to preserve
his people from it. Do we see that? And he shall preserve thy
soul. The real trouble we want to be
preserved from is that eternal trouble. And look what it says.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out. I tell you, when you go
out into this world, he's with you. He'll preserve you despite
your trouble. And He said He'll preserve thy
coming in. He's not going to lose a one
of us. From this time forth and forevermore. It's always been
this way. It is now and it's always going
to be this way. God's going to have His people. And the way
He's going to get them is to send trouble to wake them up.
Show them who they are and who He is. And He's going to have
them tell somebody else. God's about to deliver the Lord
Jesus Christ. He can save you, too. One last scripture. Turn to 2 Corinthians 4. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 15 we read, and I'll tell you what you'll
find unique. If you ask your pastor, Todd, man, this has been
tough, hasn't it? Before he ever went, he knew
the trouble was coming. You know what? He had the best
attitude I've ever seen. It's going to be alright. It's
going to be alright. And then in the midst of it, he called
him on the phone in the hospital. I feel good. It's going to be
fine. And when he's so weak he can't hardly walk, it's going
to be fine. It's going to be fine. You say, where does a man
get that kind of attitude? It's the grace of God. It's drawing
up near to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's knowing, believing. That
the end is going to be better than what we're going through
right now. God's got a purpose. He's going to accomplish that
purpose. It's going to be for my good and His glory. Look at verse 15 here. For all
things are for your sake. Do we believe that? Well, that
includes the trouble, doesn't it? All things are for your sakes. That the abundant grace might,
through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God."
When we even give thanks, we've had trouble. That's only the
grace of God. In verse 16, "...for which cause
we don't faint," because he's with us. He gives us strength.
"...but though our outward man may perish, yet the inward man
is renewed day by day." Job was covered with boils from the top
of his head to the bottom of his foot, and yet he was renewed,
wasn't he? And then look at this, here's
what it's called, for our light affliction, that word is our
light trouble, which is but for a moment. Listen, whatever trouble
and trial we go through, I don't care how long it lasts, it's
nothing compared to eternity. And it's just for a moment. And
you know what it does? It worketh for us a far more
exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at
the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.
The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which
are not seen are eternal. I'm going to give you a great
illustration of this whole matter. There's a man named Horatio Spafford. He had, I believe it was three
daughters, and they were all going back to England. And he
was detained for some reason, and so he sent his wife and three
daughters on a ship to England. And on the way there, the ship
sank, and they all perished. And he got word of that and decided
to go on to England anyway, and he was asleep at night, and the
captain came and woke him up. And he said, ìWeíre going to
open the place where your wife and daughters perish.î And he
walked up on the deck and stood there. and then went back down
into the ship and took out a piece of paper and a pen and this is
what he wrote. 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. Though Satan
should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blessed
assurance control that Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul. My sin, O the bliss
of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part, but the
whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise
the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! And,
Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight. and the clouds
roll back as a scroll, and the trump shall resound, and the
Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul."
May God grant us the grace to be where this man was in our
hour of need. May the Lord bless you.