were driving up this morning
and I had to transfer it to another format so it's easier for me
to read, so I've only got to read through it one time, so
pardon me if I falter through this, but this is a song by Joseph
Hart. Believers own, they are blind. They know themselves unwise,
but wisdom in the Lord they find, who opens all their eyes. Unrighteous
are they all when tried, but God himself declares in Jesus
they are justified. His righteousness is theirs.
That we're unholy needs no proof. We sorely feel the fall, but
Christ has holiness enough to sanctify us all. Exposed by sin
to God's just wrath, we look to Christ and view redemption
in his blood by faith and full redemption too. Simple words,
but profound truths. One more thing, pardon me, just
for a moment. All right, everybody in Psalm
119, Psalm 119. I want to begin reading in verse
65, so make your way to verse 65. This is the ninth section
in this psalm. Of course, most of you probably
already know this is the longest psalm. It is in 22 sections,
but I'll mention that in a moment. Let's look at Psalm 119, verse
65. Thou hast dealt well with thy
servant, O Lord, according unto thy word. Teach me good judgment
and knowledge, for I have believed thy commandments. Before I was
afflicted, I went astray, but now have I kept thy word. Thou
art good, and doest good. Teach me thy statutes. The proud
have forged a lie against me, but I will keep thy precepts
with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease,
but I delight in thy law. It is good for me that I have
been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. The law of
thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Now just in light of that last
verse, this is not my message. I remember Henry Mayhem saying,
well, he said it years ago, but I probably heard it years ago,
but I heard it on tape. You know, the scripture teaches
us that the love of money is the root of all evil. And it
doesn't matter whether that love of that money is the love of
a million dollars or the love of one dollar. The amount's not
the point. It's the love of the money. But
be that as it may, I thought I'd just throw that in for free.
Here's my subject for this morning. And it's taken directly, I'm
using this directly from a quote from God's holy word. And it's
a difficult statement. I don't
know that I can always honestly quote this statement. and feel
it like it's supposed to be, but it's true nonetheless. It
is good for me that I have been afflicted. Now this letter, Teth,
I didn't read it. You see it there, Teth. It's
a part of the Holy Scripture. Now, just as a little lesson,
remember, in the Psalms, these headings are a part of the inspired
words, so never leave those out. Many of the others, like the
Gospel according to Matthew, that's not a part of the inspired
text. But in the Psalm, everything
you read there is a part of the inspired text. This letter, Teth,
it's the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. And this is
not my message, but I feel I need to share this with you this morning. It almost pains me that I said
that word. I don't like that word too much.
But to give to you this morning a little thought about this Hebrew
letter, Teth. In this ninth section of the
119th Psalm, this letter, it's what it is, it's a letter. The
ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet means God's goodness. Psalm 119
is written in what some call an alphabetic acrostic. Now it's
one of, Psalm 119 is one of nine complete acrostics in the Old
Testament scripture. But let me say this, do not follow
the rabbit down the rabbit hole. In this day and age, there's
even movies made about the Bible, and it's called the Da Vinci
Code, and people are looking for secret messages in the Bible.
And some of these alphabetic acrostics, they're looking for
special meanings and hidden meanings from God, and when they do, they're
missing the actual words that are inspired in the Holy Bible. They try to take the 22 letters
of the Hebrew alphabet and make some kind of sentence looking
for some hidden, deep, dark secret. Just my warning. Don't follow
the rabbit down the rabbit hole. Here's why. There is no secret
or hidden message in the acrostic itself. It was merely a literary
style of the day. It was not written for code.
If you get entangled in some supposed code, you'll miss Christ
in the inspired word. Now, hear my, I'm telling you
this from experience. I've been trying to do this for
38, 39 years. When you start to follow the
rabbit down the rabbit hole, it will not bless your soul.
It will just take you into more darkness. Now, I have a quote,
and I want you to listen to this quote. It doesn't matter who
wrote the quote. Whatsoever is good for God's
children, they shall have it. For all is theirs to further
them to heaven. Therefore, if poverty be good,
they shall have it. If disgrace be good, they shall
have it. If trials be good, they shall
have it. If misery be good, they shall
have it. For all is ours to serve for
our greater good. Most of so-called professed Christianity
in our day is always about the positive. You understand what
I'm saying? The mountaintop experiences. They bring forth Christianity
as something to bring you physically in this world to some higher
plane. And I'm here to say there's nothing
to do with the gospel. The gospel is intended by God
to, one, convert the soul, to save us inwardly, and to cause
us to see the corruption that we are in the fall of Adam, and
then to bring us hope in Christ Jesus. That's what the gospel's
for. That's what the word of God is
for. So let's concentrate this morning just on two verses. There's
too much here for me to try to deal with in 30 to 45 minutes. Two verses, so let's read those
again. I've already read them once, but I want to read those
again because we'll concentrate on those. Before I was afflicted,
I went astray. Did you see that? Before I was
afflicted, I went astray. So therefore, that lets me know
this kind of affliction is a good thing. It's a good thing. But now, have I kept my word. Now, verse 71 is where I actually
took my title. It is good for me that I have
been afflicted, that I might learn my statutes. How is Christ
in this text? Well, I have to confess to you,
I'm sure that Christ is in this text in a far greater way than
what I am able to see. But I know that there is one
way in which Christ is in this text. You don't have to turn
to this one. I just want to turn or read these words. These are
inspired words from the Apostle Paul himself. Remember, it is,
before I was afflicted, I went astray. So somebody's doing the
affliction, the afflicting. Someone is suffering the affliction,
okay? It is good for me that I have
been afflicted. So somebody's doing the afflicting
and somebody is suffering the affliction. Now, let's see how
Christ is mainly in this text. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the context is clear, that is, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
In whom we have redemption through his blood, even, ah, this old
sinner, I like this part, even the forgiveness of sins. Who
is the image, ah, amazing, who is the image of the invisible
God? This is such a profound thing
that, think of it, those who've seen Christ literally, when he
was on this earth, those who've seen Christ literally in his
body, had looked upon God himself. They spoke with him. and heard
from and was able to actually touch God himself. Amazing. Who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. Now here is
how we see Christ in the text of Psalm 119, 65-72. For by him were all things created, that
are in heaven, that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him. There is nothing that you could
think of in the whole of the universe that Jesus Christ did
not create. If it exists, He created it. Even the angelic hordes of which
some fail, God Almighty, in the person of His Son, created it
all. But look, and were created by
him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things
consist. Or that is, they are held together. So who is the afflictor in this
Psalm 119? None other than Jesus Christ
himself. A great healer never heals a
well person. Sounds a little overstated simplicity,
doesn't it? And yet it is one thing that
does not sink into the minds and the hearts of natural men
and women. Think about this. There are two
main ways I want to look at this. Before I was afflicted, that's
what I'll deal with in particular. Before I was afflicted, I went
astray. This is true in our initial gospel
conversion. God never lifts a man or a woman
up until he brings them down into the dirt before him. God
never saves an individual until he first manifests to them their
lost condition. Turn to Luke chapter 5. These
are the words of the master himself. This is not this preacher's take,
because my take on it means nothing. I mean that. I mean, it means
nothing. I have my take on a lot of things, but Mike, it means
nothing. Turn to Luke chapter 5, find
verse 27. This is familiar. This is nothing
new. I have nothing new to preach.
Luke 5, 27, after these things, he went forth, that is Jesus
Christ. He went forth and saw a publican. as a tax collector,
a Jewish person who was actually collecting taxes for the Roman
government, collecting taxes from his Jewish brothers and
sisters to give to the Roman government. After these things,
he went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt
of custom, and he saith unto him, follow me. And he left up,
and he left all, rose up and followed him. I don't even have
time to deal with that, but there was power in that follow me.
That wasn't a request, it was a command, and it was a command
that gave the very ability to follow the command. And Levi
made a great feast in his own house. And there was a great
company of publicans. All the bad boys were around.
All of his friends who were actually thought of by most Jews as turncoats,
people who turned on their own nation. And he made a great feast
in his own house. And there was a great company
of publicans and others that sat down with them. But their
scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying,
Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus
answering, said unto them, Do you think this would be something
that just everybody gets and understands under any kind of
canopy or whatsoever, but men by nature can't get this, especially
spiritually? What did he say? They that are
whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. What do we
often refer to concerning sickness? What do we call it? An affliction,
right? This is my, have you ever talked
about it? We love talking about our what? Afflictions, our sicknesses,
don't we? We're all sick by nature. Not just physically, but more
importantly, we are sick spiritually. We are sick down in here, inside,
in the heart, and the soul, and the mind. but we don't recognize
it by nature. It is God that must make us see
and feel and taste the reality of our affliction. Before I was
afflicted, I went astray. My brothers and sisters, anyone
here in this congregation, if God has not caused you to see
your spiritual sickness, you are not a Christian. I do not
care what kind of experience you have had. I don't say that
to criticize your experience. I'm not saying your experience
wasn't real, but I am telling you it was not of God. Jesus
Christ didn't come to save the whole. He came to save the sick. And how's he did it? I came not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Look at Jeremiah
31. There's another. Another important
thought of this. And I give this from Jeremiah
because I want us to realize this is not what I read of our
Lord's words is not just some New Testament truth. This is
eternal truth. This has always been true. Jeremiah
31. Jeremiah 31 in verse 18, I have
surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Sounds like Ephraim
is what? Afflicted, no. Sounds like Ephraim
is under deep distress and turmoil. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and I
was chastised. As a bullock, unaccustomed to
the yoke. You see the vivid imagery here? Like some young bullock that
you put this yoke on, and what's he do? Begin to kick. Begin to
kick, begin to bite, begin to shove, begin to try to thrust
his horns. What does he say? As a bullock
unaccustomed to the yoke, turn thou me, and I shall be turned. What is this word declaring to
us? God commands all men everywhere
to repent. but no man will yield until God
first turns him. It's just a fact. It's just the
way it is. Turn thou me, and I shall be
turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was
turned, I repented. So if you repented to get God
to do something for you, you got the cart before the horse. You're trying to put your work
in God's place, and then put God's work in your place. And
God always must act first. This is the way it is. That's
God's way. There's never any other different
way. Surely, after that I was turned, I repented. And after
I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea,
even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Again, before I was afflicted,
I went astray. I went astray. But here's a second
way in which this is so. This is true. Again, this is
true in our initial gospel conversion. It has to start this way. It
has to start this way. This is the way God does it,
and he does it in no other way. But I believe there's many ways
to get there. No, there's only one way. But once God has brought us by
that one way, this affliction doesn't end. It's just commenced. It's just started. Before I was
afflicted, so there was a time when I wasn't afflicted, I was
dead in trespasses and sins. I didn't even recognize how bad
I was, let alone how glorious God is. I did not recognize the
corruption that was down in here, and I certainly didn't recognize
the glory and the beauty and the majesty that was in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, thank God, he affected me. He made me see my sickness. But this is also true in our
sojourn as believers. Again, modern Christianity kind
of, if they don't say it this way, they give the impression
that once you get saved, once you get saved, then all your
troubles begin to lessen. And we can know that's when your
troubles start. And if that scares you off, bye. And I say that not out of anger,
but out of sadness. If that would scare you off,
bye. What did our Lord say even to
the disciples when a plethora of his disciples had already
walked away? He said, will you also go away? Is this too hard
for you? It's the truth. And I'm not your
enemy because I tell you the truth. I'm not your enemy. Now, I do not believe in coincidence. Although I am sure that many
times I use language that is the language of coincidence.
Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. Does that sound familiar, Hebrews
chapter 12? We just heard that read to us.
Now, I had sent Jason and Mike my text and my title, but nothing
more. Jason stands up here and reads
Hebrews chapter 12. That's no coincidence. So I don't have
to go back and explain a whole lot in Hebrews 12. It's already
been read to us. So let's begin. Think about this.
This is true in our sojourn as believers. Hebrews chapter 12,
look at it, verse five, for the sake of time. And have ye forgotten
the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children? My
son, despise not thou the chastening. What is chastening? We will see
it is to be afflicted. It's to be afflicted. Despise
thou not the chastening of the Lord. Somebody says, well, God's
chastening me. He's angry at me. No. If he was angry at you, he'd
cast you into hell. Even if there's anyone here this
morning that's an unbeliever, the only reason you're not in
hell is because of God's grace and mercy right now. Now whether
that will be eternal for you and personally in you, I have
no idea. Only God knows that. But as Henry
Mahan used to say, every breath on this side of hell is one less
you'll take in hell. Now how doctrinally accurate
that is true is, I do not know, but it's still fact. I don't
know about breathing, inhale, that doesn't matter. But every
moment a person stands on this side of eternity is one less
they will spend under the judgment of God Almighty. We ought to
thank God for that, should we not? Look at it. My son, despise
not thou the chastening of the Lord. And this is tough, nor
faint when thou art rebuked of him. Because when he does chasten
you, When he does rebuke you, it hurts. You will even wonder,
has he abandoned me? Has he abandoned me? Now, before
I go any further, let me say this. All chastening, when you're
being chastened, if you're being chastened, does not necessarily
mean you're being chastened for some specific fault or failure
or sin. Job was afflicted or chastened
of the Lord and had to be corrected, but not because of some particular
fault he had, but because he was faulty. Do you see the difference? Now, yes, God will chasten his
people over individual acts of rebellion, but chastening doesn't
prove you did something specifically wrong. Because, my brothers and
sisters, even our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in God's sight. He has to correct our thoughts
about our own good deeds. And we're still to walk in good
deeds. were to be a people zealous of good works, but were not to
rely on them as merit before God. So just say, if God's chastening
you, it's not well. We'll get into that. Well, oh,
God's being mean to me. Oh, no. Oh, no, look. My son,
despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor will faint when
thou art rebuked of him for whom the Lord chastened, for whom
the Lord loveth. Do you see that? Loveth. He chastened. So to be chastened, to be afflicted,
of the Lord, right? This affliction comes from the
Lord. See, we think that when the Lord chastens, He calls us
some bad circumstance to happen. The circumstance may be a part
of the chastening, but the chastening is of the Lord. It's Him dealing
with you down in here. It's not Him bringing just some
bad circumstance onto you. That's the way I was taught in
religion. If something bad happens to you, you've done something
wrong, you better find out what it was. Correct it, and then God will
quit chasing you. If God ever quits chasing you, guess what?
Then are ye illegitimate. Bastards, and not sons, right? Huh? For whom the Lord loveth,
he chasteneth, and scourgeth. That's affliction, is it not?
scourges every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father
chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons,
is it? I was taught this for years in
religion, and I knew the terminology and the doctrine behind it, but
I never knew the experience that it was. God saved me. When God
actually saved me, it started and it hasn't stopped since. He keeps afflicting me and afflicting
me, and it varies in different ways. God is not some cookie-cutter
kind of God. He knows how to deal with us
individually exactly like we are. Because we've all sinned
to come short of the glory of God. Some of us have real troubles
with different sins and things that others do not have trouble
with, correct? Any of you had more than one child, you know
it's difficult. You can't treat them both exactly
the same way when it comes to correction. It just don't work. But our father is an all-wise
father. He knows how to deal with us in love and scourge us. I mean, it's like being whipped
on the back. That's affliction. That's affliction.
Let me move on. I just think of all that our
brother Job went through. All that he went through, I mean,
he lost loved ones, all of his possessions, his friends began
to despise him. Three of his best friends came
and began to mock him. That had to hurt. Even the wife
of his bosom said, why don't you just curse God and die? And he hadn't done anything wrong
except be a sinner and in need of correction. And all of that
was brought down to this. Lord, all that happened, the
whole book of Job is brought down to this major thing. Lord,
I've heard of you with the hearing of my ear, and that's absolutely
essential. because it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them. That's essential, but it's more
than just the hearing. I've heard of you with the hearing
in my ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore, I hate myself,
and I repent in dust and ashes. And he hadn't done anything wrong,
except be jumped. Just be himself. Just be a believer,
and even a top-notch believer, if I can put it that way, but
he was still just a sinner saved by the grace of God. And so am
I, and so are you. And though I am standing on a
podium up here above you, that has nothing to do with anything. That's just so you could see
me a little better when I'm preaching and you don't have to look at
the back of somebody's head. We're all sinners. in need of
the free and sovereign grace of God. I need God to afflict
me. And since he has, although there are times when I cringe
and I doubt myself, I know that his chasing is because he loves
me. Let's move on. Furthermore, verse
9, We've had fathers of our flesh which corrected us. Remember,
chasing is not just to beat. I mean, God, I wish I understood
this when I was a young father. You don't punish a child just
to punish the child. You punish the child to correct
the child, to curb further behavior. So it's not just giving a lashing.
was given a lesson. It has to be administered in
what? Love. And I didn't always do that.
I didn't always do that. Furthermore, we had our fathers.
If our flesh has corrected us, that's what chastening is about.
Corrected us. And we gave them reverence, shall
not we much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits that
live? For they, verily, or that is, for they truly, for they
truly chastened us for their own pleasure, but he for our
profit. Note that we might be protectors
of his holiness. Now, I know how that is brought
forth. Religion teaches God chastens
you, then you become holy. That's not what it says. The
chastening is the holiness of God bearing down upon you to
correct you. Do you see that? When He's chasing
you, you're partaking of His separateness, His holiness. He don't do it to make you holy.
He done it because he's already made you holy in Christ Jesus. And as ye have received Christ
Jesus, so walk ye in him. But I walk like this, God is
constant. Watching the boundaries, putting
up limits, correcting us when we go this way too far, correcting
us when we go that way too far. It's good for me. that I've been
afflicted. Now, let's go on. Now, no, look
at this. Now, no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous. We know that, don't you? I knew,
like I said, when I was in religion, I knew the mechanics of this,
but I didn't know the experience of it. Now, no chastening for
the present seems to be joyous, but grievous. That's affliction,
you know. That's affliction. God don't...
I used to have a teacher come along when I was in the first
grade, and if she caught you turning around talking to somebody,
she'd sneak up behind you and give you a little whack. That
wasn't hard, give you a whack with a ruler across the hand.
Well, you felt it when she whacked you. You got caught. You got
busted. God doesn't do that. God doesn't
do that. God lays hold of your heart,
and your soul, and your mind, and brings it back in line with
subjection to Jesus Christ. Now, no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward, it yieldeth
the peaceable fruit of righteousness. This is not something God's trying
to do. This is what God does. You see it? I was taught in religion,
when God's chasing you, he's trying to tell you something.
God don't try to tell anybody anything. When God acts, it's
done. It's done. But, afterward, it
yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which
are exercised, not those who exercise it, but are exercised
by it. You see, it's exercised thereby. Wherefore, now here we go. Wherefore,
do you see that? Wherefore? You see, before I
was afflicted again, I went astray. Does this mean that I am to judge
my fellow believer when I see them so afflicted? Absolutely
not. Absolutely not. Well, if they
hadn't have done this, this wouldn't have happened. But they did. So have you done your thing.
So have I done mine. Look wherefore lift up the hands
which hang down. Don't criticize, help. Don't condemn, support. And I tell you folks, it's not
that easy to do. Because when we see somebody
else suffering, especially if we know they've done something
wrong, that self-righteousness mells up in our soul. And we
say, well, say it down in here even if we don't say it here.
Well, if that was me, I wouldn't have done that. You ever said
that? I wouldn't have done that. Apart
from God's restraint, I will be a Charles Manson. Apart from God's restraint, I
would be a Charles Mason, or a David Trish. But it's worse
than that. I'm a Walter Pendleton. I'm a
corrupt, fallen, deceitful, depraved person. And I will is in the
grace of God in Christ Jesus. And that once he begins his good
work in me, he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Because if he ever does stop, you can talk about doctrine all
you want, and I believe this. If he ever does stop, Jason,
I'm a boner. because he chastens all of his
own all the way to glory. He keeps correcting and correcting
and correcting and then when he's done correcting he takes
us on to glory. That's what he does. That's what he does. Oh, God, help us to be along
suffering one more than another. But we need it, don't we? We
need it. And make straight paths, well,
wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble
knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which
is lame be turned out of the way, but rather let it be healed. Follow peace with all men and
holiness. Now remember, follow it. You
ain't never gonna personally attain it in this life. I'm just
telling you. You're not gonna personally get it in this life.
But you follow after it. You keep following and you keep
following and you keep following. and no matter how much you fall
flat on your face, God lifts you back up, and you just keep
following, and you just keep following. And you fall flat
on your face again, he lifts you up, and you just keep following,
and you just keep following. But in fact, this keeps happening
to me. I keep following. I can't be a Christian. No, he's
showing you, reminding you what you really are in yourself. That's
what it's all about. to keep reminding us what we
are so that we will trust His Son alone. Follow peace with
all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
But there's a caveat here. There's a caveat here. There's a warning here in this
caveat of affliction and chastening. There are some imposters in the
midst. That's right. There are some
imposters. There are tares among the wheat. But even then, God
tells us, take your hands off of it. Well, I'm going to take,
I'm going to make sure that tare is exposed. No, no. You may expose
the tare, but you're going to pluck up some wheat with it.
And remember what our Lord taught? Let it alone. There's tares among
the wheat. The weird, the amazing thing about tares and wheats,
when they first start up, they look exactly the same. And let
me tell you, none of us is a gardener like the God of creation. He
knows the difference when they're just there, when they just sprout
up. He tells us to take your hands off of it. I mean, this
thing of constantly putting, there are people all over, getting
constantly put out of the church, put out of the church, put out
of the church. You gonna put a sinner out of the church? You
really? Huh? Now understand me, there
are some people who may rebel and are defiant and things must
be done, but we're all sinners saved by the grace of God. We
all fall. We all get angry when we shouldn't.
We all sin. You've got to be there to support
one another, and help one another, and not be constantly pointing
the finger at one another. But remember, there are impostors. Look at it. Looking diligently. And that's to look at yourself.
Look at yourself. Don't worry about everybody else.
Look at yourself. Looking diligently, lest any
man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble you, and thereby, here's the trouble, many be defiled,
lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who
for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that
afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was
rejected. This is serious language. He
was rejected, for he found no place of repentance. I can't
explain this, but I thank God I don't think I've been hurt.
He saw I was an apostate. He's a man that knew God, but
turned his back on God's way. Look at it. For he was rejected,
for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully
with tears. That frightens me. That frightens me. Now we see. Now we see. It is good for me. that I have inflicted, that I
might learn thy statutes." Now, what do you think of that? Maybe
your mind is doing right now the same thing mine did when
I first read this. Of course, I've read it several
times, but this just caught my attention about a month ago.
Statutes, we usually think about laws, right? Rules. Commandments. And that word is translated statutes,
especially the Old Testament sometimes is talking about the
law or commandments. But here's what it means here.
Here's the second point from the second verse. Christ's affliction
of his children is good. It's good, even though it's grievous,
even though it hurts. It's for our spiritual profit. By these afflictions, Christ
teaches me his statutes. Now, no matter how the word is
used in a context, the main meaning of this word statutes, and you
know, many words have varying meanings. You have to look at
the context often to see the meaning. But often in the Hebrew
and the Greek, it's not so. You spell it a certain way, you
know it means this, or you spell it another way, still the same
word, but you add to it. I'm not a Hebrew or Greek scholar,
but it means this other meaning. But think about it. Here's what
this word statutes here means. Literally, it means to engrave
or carve, okay? So certainly, we could think
of the Ten Commandments as the statutes of God, right? They
were actually written in tables of stone with the finger of God. They were engraved, right? But here's what it means spiritually
or metaphorically, to enact or to decry. to enact or to decree. Look at it. What does it say? It is good for me that I have
been afflicted, that I might learn your decree. That we might, let me say this
to you, that we might learn that God is in absolute charge and
in absolute control. Because once he brings you there,
if he really brings you there, there's no turning back. He won't
let you go. And you say, well, what if I
run away? Jonah did. And he was running
away from God. And he met God. Think about it. He was running
away from God, but he ended up running into God. Because if
you're his, you can try to get away, but you won't. Somebody
says, well, preacher, if I believe that, if you believe that you
bow to Jesus Christ, so don't bring that to me. You are like
you are, and you're rebellious to truth because you're a rebel
like I am. And it takes God to put the yoke
on you. Mm, like a bullet. And God finally puts the bit
in your mouth and says, whoa, you'll go this far and no further. Turn with me to Micah. I have
that marked. And in case you don't know, it's
the seventh book back from the end of the Old Testament. So
I'll give you a moment to turn there. If you're following along,
I'm not demanding that you do so, but if you're following along,
I want you to listen to these words and read and see them as,
see the words on the page, God's inspired word on the page as
I read them. Micah chapter seven. Micah chapter seven. Some of
these words will probably sound familiar to most. It's beginning
in verse 5, almost done. Matthew 7, verse 5. Trust ye
not in a friend. Put ye not confidence in a guide.
Keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom,
your wife. These are some strong words, aren't they? In other
words, don't trust anybody. He said, really, preacher? Yeah,
when it comes to the righteousness before God, don't trust anybody.
Don't trust yourself. Now this one, for the son dishonoreth
the father, and the daughter riseth up against her mother,
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and here's a,
our Lord directly quoted this more than once, and it's recorded
in the New Testaments. Look at it. A man's enemies are
the men of his own house. You see, when God saves you,
he may not save your kinfolk. He don't have to. And they may
become your worst enemies. It don't always happen, but I
have seen it happen in these 38, 39 years. But look, therefore,
I will look unto the Lord. God is not telling us not to
put confidence and trust one another. I am not your actual hope and
you are not my actual hope. The Lord himself is our only
hope. Therefore, I will look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will
hear me. So that means something. It's as though he has not been hearing
me before. Though he knows what I have cried
out for, even before I know what to cry out for. Therefore, I
will look unto the Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. Now look, rejoice not against
me, O my enemy, when I fall. Notice what Micah wrote. When
I fall. He did not write if I fall. Because you, as a believer, will
fall. What was it? A couple of disciples
said, well, Lord, how often do we forgive our brother? He said,
70 times 7. What's that? 490? Am I correct? 490 in a day. Kind of gets tiresome after a
while, doesn't it? Somebody says he's being melodramatic. No,
it's not melodramatic. He's expressing to us two things. One, how corrupt we are. We're
still gonna keep failing and failing and failing and even
failing one another. But we're still to be long-suffering
with one another. Rejoice not against me, O my
enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in what? Darkness. You see that? When I sit in darkness,
here it is, the Lord. shall be a light unto me. It's
not just he gives me light, though that is true, but it's deeper
that the Lord himself is my light. When I'm enabled by faith to
see him in his word, I've done it about every place I've ever
been. It's like, I can breathe. Gives me some
peace. Gives me some hope, because I
know I sit in darkness. I know I fall. When I sit in darkness, the Lord
shall be a light unto me. And look, I will bear the indignation
of the Lord, because I have sinned against him. Remember, even in
our best state, man is altogether what? V-A-N-I-T-Y. We're infamous. The only thing
that has any worth in us is God in us, the hope of glory. That's
the only thing. That's the only thing. Look,
here it is. I will bear the indignation of
the Lord God because I have sinned against him until he pleads my
cause. If you have the creator of the
universe pleading your cause for you, what do you have to
fear, even from yourself? even from yourself, until he
plead my cause and execute judgment for me. And beloved, he did in
Christ Jesus. He executed judgment upon the
Son. My sins are paid for. And though
I still have to deal with the consequences of my actions, I
will not be condemned for my sins. My Lord was condemned in
my stead. And remember, Mike is looking
forward to the Messiah coming. We know what's happened. It's
already done. It's already done. This book
tells us so. He will bring me forth to the
light. You see it? He will bring me
forth to the light, and I shall behold my righteousness. You know what that says? When
he brings you into the light, you see your righteousness fade
as doth a leaf. And I shall behold his righteousness. Listen to the words of these
songs. This song. Thy people, Lord, have ever found. Tis good to bear thy rod. Afflictions
make us learn thy will and lean upon our God. This is the comfort
we enjoy when new distress begins. We read thy word, we run thy
way, and hate our former sins. Thy judgments, Lord, are always
right, though they may seem severe. The sharpest sufferings we endure
flow from thy faithful care. Before we knew thy chastening
rod, our feet were apt to stray, but now we learn to keep thy
word, nor wander from thy way. A couple of scriptures, and I'll
close with Psalm 22, if you're willing to see it as I read it. Psalm 22. Psalm 22, 23. Ye that
fear the Lord, Praise him. All ye the seed of
Jacob, glorify him. And fear him, all ye the seed
of Israel. For he hath not despised nor
abhorred the affliction of the afflicted. Why does he not? That's no deep thing. He's the
one doing it. Even if he's using some means,
just like he did with Satan. Satan couldn't touch Job until
God gave him say-so. And when he gave him say-so,
he said, there's a limit and you can't go no further. I can
rest in God like that. And when he does correct me,
when he does chasten me, he's doing it not out of anger, but
in love. For he hath not despised nor
abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid
his face from him. But when he cried unto him, he
heard. Now one more, Psalm 25, just
a page over probably. Psalm 25. Verse 16. Turn thee
unto me. and have mercy upon me for I
am desolate and affected. Ever been there? God ever push
you there? If you've been a believer for
very long, yeah, some of you out there, I have to be honest
with you. I don't, I can't say I relate
to what you're going through. I don't. But I know it's tough
because there God brought it upon you. He brought it upon you. If you're
His, it will be for your good. It will be for your good. I can't
tell you how, but I can tell you why. Because He will get
glory out of saving you. His way. His way. Look at what Meredith does. Turn
thee unto me and have mercy upon me for I am desolate and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart are enlarged. Oh, bring thou me out
of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and
my pain, and hear, let us never forget, let us never grow above
this, and forgive all my sins. If you ever grow above having
that in your prayer, you've grown too far. You're too old. Sin's always a part of the equation.
Sin's always a part of the equation. Heavenly Father, oh God, some
of these things are tough. Our circumstances are often tough,
and we have those times when we can breathe and relax a little
bit, but not often. But we, by your grace, bow to
your wise and sovereign purpose. God, teach us your way. Make
us look to Christ. Calls us to bow to Him, trust
Him, and lean upon Him in Christ's name. Amen. All right, Jason. Thank you, Lord. We all need
to hear that message. It created a lot, don't we? Next week, Walter will be back. And at some point, probably next
week, I'll let y'all know. We're gonna have like little
dinners afterwards, but not next week. Won't give us plenty of
time to prepare for that. So that we can get to meet Walter
in the end. We'll get together and iron this
out as we go here. I'll let you know. O'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming? wisdom. Some day the path He
chose for me will all be understood. In heaven's clearer light I'll
see All things first now and then. Okay. I don't need her. I don't need her. He's gone! Oh. You got a sense for this, right? You.