It will be in the book of James,
chapter 1. James, chapter 1. James was the
half-brother of the Lord Jesus Christ. What mercy it is that
the Lord revealed Himself to his half-brother. You remember
most that met the Lord or saw Him raised from being a boy on
up didn't see Him as being the Christ, as being the Savior.
You remember in Luke chapter 4 when the Lord read from Isaiah
61, talked about the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach
the gospel. And he quoted the entire passage
there, then he closed the book and he said, he said, today is
this scripture fulfilled in your ears. Today is this scripture
fulfilled. And they marveled at the wondrous
words, the gracious words, the scripture says, that proceeded
out of his mouth. But they said, is this not Joseph and Mary's
son? They didn't know who he was. They couldn't see him. They marveled
at the gracious words. But yet they couldn't see him
as Christ. What grace it was that the Lord
allowed, not allowed, caused James to see him. The Lord caused
James to see him as Christ Jesus, the Lord. And that's our hope. Not that we just See baby Jesus
meek and mild, not that we just see and believe that there's
a God. The demons believe in tremble, but that we see the
Lord Jesus Christ as God as our Savior as our Redeemer. That's
our hope. Seeing Christ is all by his choosing. One cannot choose
to see Him. He chooses to reveal Himself,
doesn't He? Boy, that's our desire tonight. We were singing that song, Come
Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove. Every time we gather, it's amazing
that we pray unto the Lord, we sing, begging unto the Lord that
the Lord would send His Spirit. The Lord's Spirit's already present.
Now, if he chooses to manifest himself in a powerful way, he's
on the present. He's everywhere all the time.
But yet we pray for that which is already here and say, Lord,
can you quicken our cold hearts? Can you make us alive unto you? Can you reveal yourself? Because
you're present. We cannot see you and we cannot
hear you and we cannot know that you're here unless you reveal
yourself just like you did to James. Otherwise, he'll remain
hidden even though he's right in our midst. He's everywhere
all the time, isn't he? We can't choose to see him, he
must reveal himself. It's all because man's will is
not free. Men talk about free will, but
our will is bound to our sinful nature. Our will is sinful by
nature and therefore we don't have a free will. Our will is
a sinful will, it's not free. But if you're in Christ, what
does the scripture say? You're free. Indeed, you're free. Indeed, there's only freedom
in him. The Lord must choose to give
that life and give that freedom. And by God's mercy and grace,
he does to his people just as he did to James. And like all scripture. This
was given by divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He not only
revealed himself to James, but he impressed upon his heart to
write an epistle. And it was to be written to a
specific people. And he tells us exactly who it
is in the first verse, the 12 tribes. The 12 tribes, a very
specific people. Writing this letter to specific
people, to specific persons, to a specific audience, not to
everyone. everyone, to the Twelve Tribes.
What does he mean by the Twelve Tribes? Well, first of all I
want to elaborate just for a second on the thought that if you were
to write a letter to Every time that I've ever written a letter,
and maybe if you want to see me after service and explain
my error, I'll listen to you, but I've never written a letter
to a general population. Now, you can write decrees or
you can write statutes and things like that. That's not a letter.
A letter is to a specific audience. A letter is to a specific person. Most of the time it's an individual,
isn't it, when we write letters. And we never, we always greet
the individuals that we're writing to to begin with, dear so-and-so.
Well, that's how the word of God is written to the 12 tribes. These are the elect of God he's
writing to. He's not talking about the physical Israel. He's talking about the ones called
unto salvation, the ones ordained unto eternal life. This is who
he is writing to. We know this is the case because
he tells us to the 12 tribes scattered abroad, but he calls
them brethren 15 times in five chapters. That's what James is,
is five chapters. He uses the word brethren 15 times. He calls
them the beloved of the Lord three times in these five chapters.
So this is who the Lord's writing to, his chosen sheep, his elect,
his people. Word of God was not written to
everybody. It was a specific letter from
the Lord to his bride. The greatest love letter that's
ever been written. Isn't that right? This is written to those chosen
in Christ before time. And we have to, I wanted to give
a brief, I'm not sure what intro, if you will, I wanted to give
a brief intro in order to have a foundation to build upon for
the rest of what's, what's transpiring here. So let's read this again.
James chapter one, verse one, James, a servant of God and of
the Lord Jesus Christ to the 12 tribes, which are scattered
abroad greeting my brethren counted all joy. when you fall into diverse
temptations, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh
patience. But let patience have her perfect
work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth
is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways. James gives us a command that
I want to focus on this evening, if the Lord be in our help and
would allow his word to go forth in free course and give us ears
to hear. Gives us a command that's impossible for us to do. Absolutely
impossible for the flesh to do. And it is found in verse two.
Count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Count
it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Another
way to translate that would be consider it a glad occasion when
you are encompassed about with trials on every side. Consider
it a glad occasion. That's what he's saying. Now,
if you're like me, the first response I had was what? What,
how are we going to consider it a glad occasion when trials
encompass us on every side? Well, in the flesh, we can't.
We can't in the flesh. How am I gonna rejoice in trials?
How am I going to rejoice in afflictions and suffering and
tribulation and persecutions, whatever it may be? But that's
what we're commanded to do here. That's what I've titled the message,
count it all joy. Count it all joy. How are we
to do that? Well, the answer's found in verse three. First word
says what? Knowing. Second word says this. That word this is in italics.
It's not what we know, it's who we know. Knowing. What do we
know? The trying of our faith worketh
patience. God's elect rejoiced, we rejoice
knowing. Knowing whom we have believed. Being persuaded of him. Knowing
that he is able. He is able to keep that which
we've committed unto him against that day. We've been made to
know some things, haven't we? We know whom. We completely trust
that he did it all in our salvation. No matter the trial, no matter
the circumstance, no matter the tribulation, we know that he
does all the saving, and we rest. He does all the calling, and
we rest. He does all the keeping, and
we rest. Otherwise, there is no rest.
Otherwise, there is no rejoicing, is there? Can't rejoice in affliction
physically when I'm hurting physically. Can I rejoice whenever I'm, I've
pulled a muscle on my side and it's been an affliction for me
for a while. And it, I don't know why it's not getting better.
I'm not giving you my burden. I'm just simply saying that it's
been a pain, literally. And so how can I rejoice in that?
Well, this hurts. Every time I bend or move, I
have things to do. Now it's in the way. Now I'm
limited and now I'm frustrated. How can I rejoice? The God that
purpose the sun to rise every single day, purpose for that
to hurt, to drive me to Him, to show me my infirmity, my weakness,
my inability, how frail that I am. And that's what the Lord
does for His people. He causes us to have no confidence
in this flesh whatsoever. He causes us to completely need
the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time we start leaning on
the flesh a little bit, Things start going, you want to call
it good. You know what I'm talking about.
Everything's peaceful. We'll call it peaceful. You know,
it seems like we don't really have a, you know, everything's
not on fire for a moment. You can understand what I'm saying.
Then what happens? Well, we don't pray as much,
do we? You find yourself the same as
me. You don't beg as much, do we? We don't cry out, Lord, save
me as much. But we'll wait till something
happens. And all of the sudden, oh, Lord,
save me. I'm in trouble again. Lord, I'm
in trouble again. Can we rejoice in the fact that
the Lord just said, seek you my face, didn't leave us to ourself,
didn't allow us to continue down the path of self and not ever
turn around and look to him. No, he made us look, didn't he?
Does all the calling and all the keeping. Everything's right
on time. Every second that ticks is his tick of the clock that
causes us to do the whole the lot falls in the lap, but the
whole disposings of the Lord, he just returns us back to him
over and over again. You and I are not wondering about
as this other type of individual is being described a double minded
man, which we're going to look at Sunday. But We're not wavering
or doubting God. We're completely confident at
any time that the salvation of the Lord's people completely
depends on the Lord Jesus Christ. Can you say amen to that? We're
completely confident that he has to do everything, and he
did. We believe that, don't we? We're
not wavering in that. No, we're not doubting in that.
We doubt because of circumstances. We doubt because of getting our
flesh in the way of things. We never doubt the finished work
of Christ was in the Lord Jesus Christ alone. We never doubt
that. The Lord did that. The Lord did that. That's how
we can rejoice in our sufferings. That's how we can rejoice in
our circumstances, knowing it is finished. Run back to that. Every chance that you get, run
back to the fact that it is finished. Well, I've had a hard day. It
is finished. Well, this has happened in my life. It is finished. Your
eternal soul has been justified before the very throne of God
in Christ Jesus. Rest. Rest, no matter what you're
facing, rest. And if God's given us the faith
to do so, we will. We'll rest, believing in the
Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that it is finished. We know that our old man is crucified
with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that
henceforth we should not serve sin. Now, How can that be that
we don't serve sin anymore? Well, we died in Christ. We know
that, don't we? We know that that's true. I died
in Christ and therefore I no longer serve sin. Somebody said,
the preacher, we sin all the time, I know that. But the way
that the Lord sees it is is we're perfectly righteous before him,
not serving sin any longer, but serving him by faith. We truly know this. What else
do we know? Well, we know that a man is not
justified by the works of the law. We know that a man is not
justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus
Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might
be justified by the faith of Christ, not by the works of the
law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Galatians 2.16. We know that. We know that our
justification comes through and by the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
And if we have any hope of being justified, we must believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. And the only way we believe is
if he gives us the faith to do so. He is our justification. He is our, we know that, don't
we? We have no hope in justifying ourself, no hope in putting away
our sin, but he did. We know that, we know that. We
don't doubt this ever. We're not wavering in this. That's
something to think about, isn't it? In false religion, if any
of you were in false religion, do you ever remember a time whenever
you had to ask somebody to get some kind of approval or something
or brag a little bit on yourself or need to be bragged, get some
affirmation, get some confirmation from a preacher or somebody you
held in high regard. Maybe some of you all didn't
have to do it. I know we did. We would be, guess what I'm doing
for Jesus? Guess what I've done here and what have you done?
And it was like we were puffing each other up and like, yeah,
well, I know that you're a believer and you know that I am because
of this and because of that. We don't do that anymore. No,
we don't do it. We don't look, I don't, you don't
want me to examine you and I don't want you to examine me. We point
each other to the one. The one that is our justification,
the Lord Jesus Christ, he's our only hope. We're not wavering
in that, are we? We're not doubting that the work
is finished. Sometimes we doubt our salvation
because we look at ourself. But do you ever doubt your salvation
when you look to the finished work of Christ alone? Do you
ever doubt that it's finished, what he accomplished on the cross
of Calvary? No. No, I know that he accomplished salvation. And
if he died for me, I know that I'm saved. Why? Because he did
it. That's why. He did it, not me, but he did
it. We're not wavering in that, are we? We believe the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's put our feet on a solid
rock. We're no longer tossed about with every wind and like
the sea as he talks about here. We know some things. You remember in the book of Daniel,
There was a king, Nebuchadnezzar, and three Hebrew men named Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. They knew some things. They knew
that they were not going to bow down to the graven image that
Nebuchadnezzar had built. It was a 60-foot statue of himself. He thought, everybody needs to
worship me. Look at how magnificent I am. And that's all false religion,
by definition. Everybody look at me. Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow down whenever they heard
the music, and the king gave a consequence for that of throwing
them in the fiery furnace. He said, I want you to heat it
up seven times. He was very angry with these Hebrew boys for not
doing as he said. He was the king. So what happened? Well, the king threw them in
the fiery furnace that was heated up seven times. Now, I love the
number seven being the number of perfection, the number of
completion. representing the completed work on the cross of
Calvary that Christ endured the wrath of God in our stead. And
that's the picture when they were through into the fiery furnace,
they were not burnt up. They were not singed. And the
most amazing part, have you ever been around smoke for very long?
You know, it gets all over you. I mean, as soon as you, it doesn't
matter what kind of smoke it is, you're around it for just
a second, and I'll come walking in, and she said, where were
you around smoke? I'm like, well, I didn't know you'd smell it.
You know what, it's very easy to get on you, but they didn't
smell of smoke. What's that a picture of? It's a picture of everything
required the Lord provided in the person Jesus Christ, and
he endured it all, and there's nothing left, not even the smell
of it. He took it all for his people. Now, what did the Hebrew
men know? They knew two things. Number
one, God is God, and they are not. They are not. And they believed
God. And they knew that they were
gonna be thrown. They knew the consequence for disobeying the
king, but they knew the consequence for disobeying God was much greater. They believed God. Why? God gave
them faith to do that. Now, we're talking about trials
and afflictions, and we're talking about rejoicing. Rejoicing and
afflictions. or joying in whatever circumstance
we may be in. So how could they be joyful? How could they count it all joy
to be thrown in the fiery furnace? Because the God that they believed
in, they knew if they were to burn up, they deserved it being
sinners. But they knew he made a promise,
I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. And they believed
his words. See, the Lord cannot lie. The Lord cannot lie. And they knew that he's the God
of that fire as well. Nothing could touch them that
didn't pass through his hand. Do you believe that? Do you believe
that nothing can touch you unless it passes through his hand, unless
he gives permission, unless he has purposed it? It can't touch
you. He must do it. He's all sovereign over everything.
Well, the Hebrew men get thrown into the furnace, and you know
the story. King says, did we not throw three men bound? And
yet I see four men, and they're all loosed and walking around. The law that bound them burnt
up in the fire. That's the bands, right? That's
the law. The Lord Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
And who was the fourth one? Well, the king said, it's like
unto the son of God. He's right there in the fire
with them, wasn't he? There's not a place you can go. David
said, if I make my bed in hell, thou art there. Thou art there. We can't escape him. We can't
get from his presence or his sight, no matter what we do.
We can't mess it up. If we're his child, if we're
his children, he tends to us. He looks upon us. He knows us by name. There's
my hope. Lord, if I'm yours, what should
I fear? What should I be concerned with?
Why should I doubt if I'm my beloved and he is mine? Well,
we're in the flesh, aren't we? Aren't you glad the new man always
looks to the Lord Jesus Christ, always believes, even though
this flesh may be, flesh never looks to Christ, but the spirit
does. That's why we have to come and hear it again, and feed again,
eat again of that manna, that, hear of the blood again, so that
we can rest again, just for a moment, and know that he's right there
in the midst with us, no matter what we're going through, he's
provided everything. everything here and in the life
to come in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. How could Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego rejoice in the fire? Well, they rejoiced in the God
that sent it. They knew it was of the Lord. The Lord purposed
it. The Lord permitted it. The Lord controls the inhabitants
of heaven and earth and under the earth. Everything's His and
the fullness thereof. He's supreme over all. You and I know the same thing
that they knew. We just need to be reminded God is just. And
if Christ Jesus put away your sin on the cross of Calvary,
justice has been satisfied for you. Justice has been satisfied
for you. That's our hope, isn't it? God
is just and the justifier of his people. He's completely sovereign. We bow to him alone. That's what
those Hebrew men knew. That's what you and I know. We
know those things. That's the only way we can rejoice.
That's the only way we can count it all joy when we fall in diverse
temptations is because we know that our sin has been put away. We never glory in our flesh for
our salvation, do we? We know that if we died in our
sin and went to hell, it's what we deserve. But we have complete
confidence that whomsoever the Lord died for, he put away their
sin. And my hope is that when they
nailed him to the tree, he was bearing my sin. And if he was,
that means my sin has been put away. They're gone, cast as far
as the east is from the west, never to be remembered again. We are made to know throughout
the greatest trials of grace that nothing can touch us. He
was forsaken for his people on the cross of Calvary so that
he can honor his promise, I will never leave you nor forsake you.
He had become forsaken for you not to never be forsaken. He
had to become afflicted so that you and I would never be afflicted,
spiritually speaking. He had to become smitten of God
so that you and I would never be smitten of God. See, he's
our great substitute. He's our great surety. And he
truly redeemed his people on the cross of Calvary. How can I count it all joy when
I fall into diverse temptations? Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of faith. How can I count it all joy? That's
the only way. Looking unto Jesus. Don't look at the circumstance. What do you mean? Well, I know
that we're going to. We're going to try to fix it.
We're going to try to do what we can. There's nothing, I'm gonna
say this the right way, The lot falls in the lap. It would be,
my daughter's car broke down today. It would be very foolish
and stupid of me to say, well, if the Lord wants that fixed,
he'll fix it. That ain't going to work. Just leave the car there.
I mean, we won't, the car won't be there. It's in Redding. It's
going to be there in a couple of days. You're putting the wrong
part of town. Anyways, you understand what
I'm saying. But I guess, The point I'm making is, is it's
our responsibility to do that which our hand finds to do with
all our might, looking unto the Lord, looking unto the Lord.
And he provides according to his purpose. He provides according
to his will. Truly the whole disposing is
of the Lord. There is nothing pleasant in
heartache or hurt. When the dross is being removed,
By the fire, it's painful. It is painful, but the Lord's
people, we have a sure foundation. We have a sure hope, and it's
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ
and his finished work. How can I count it all joy when
I fall into diverse temptations? It must be looking unto him.
It must be clinging unto his promises alone. Everything has
been ordered and provided by our creator and the sustainer
of all life. He's the one that did it all. Paul had afflictions himself.
Paul had to deal with infirmity of the flesh. The scripture is
not really clear on what it was. Biblical scholars say it was
this or it was that. You know, we're not going to
speculate. The Holy Spirit is silent on it. I think it's wise that
we be silent on it. But he had something where he entreated
of the Lord. He came before the Lord three times. He asked the
Lord, Lord, if it be thy will, let this pass from me, remove
this, remove this. And Lord told him the answer was
not that he was going to remove it. What did he tell him? You
remember? My grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient
for thee. And that is the answer he gives
every one of his children. Boy, there's such comfort in
that, knowing that where sin doth abound, grace did much more
abound. Think about that. What sin is
he talking about? Is he talking about the sin that
I do? Well, yes, but he's talking about this, where sin doth abound. Where does it abound? Every square
inch of our body, grace does much more abound. What comfort
there is in knowing that his grace is sufficient. His grace is sufficient. Daniel
cried out unto the Lord, being burdened of the Lord. They were in Babylonian captivity.
They were being persecuted. They actually ended up having
pretty good lives there, but they had no worship of their
God. Daniel longed to go back to worship God, and they weren't
allowed to worship and assemble the way that they did once before.
We see that he cried out unto the Lord for 21 days. Have you
ever been so burdened that you've cried out to the Lord for 21
days? I know that there's been times in my life where I've cried
out unto the Lord, but this man was very burdened. May the Lord
give us a burden to cry out unto him. That's something that we
need. A burden to, he has to remind
me to cry out. Does he have to remind you to
pray? He does me sometimes, certainly. The Lord calls us to remember,
calls us to be burdened for our brethren and for the church.
But, prayed for 21 days, and what a, you imagine how discouraging
that must have been. He's gonna keep praying until
the Lord responded to him. But, something I find interesting
is, In religion, they say, pray until you get an answer. Sometimes
the answer is no. And it's hard sometimes to hear
no. When my children want something, when they were younger in the
store, they may say, I want this. I said, no. And they learned
really quick not to throw a temper tantrum in public. That's what
the Lord does to us. When he tells us no, sometimes
it bothers the flesh, and yet What does he do? He teaches us.
He shuts us up to Christ and teaches us, it was for your good
and for my glory. That's what he teaches his people.
He came to Daniel after 21 days and he said, I've come for your
words. From the very first time you prayed, the very first time
the words left your mouth, I heard you. I heard you. He hears his
people when they pray. He bottles up their prayers,
their tears, they go before him. Think about that. Your prayers
go before the throne of God. Talk about a miracle that Jesus
Christ performed on the cross of Calvary to allow us to be
able to pray. Being our advocate, being our
intercessor to come up before him. And what did the angel of
the Lord tell Daniel? Well, he gave him the prophecy
of all the things that were going to come to pass. And we know
that it was all the Lord's purpose and all the Lord's doing. And
sometimes it may not be as what we think is best, but may the
Lord calls us to rejoice. May the Lord calls us to count
it all joy for Christ's sake, looking unto him alone. That's
the only joy that we have is looking unto Christ. Do you think
Joseph was counting it all joy when he was sold into slavery?
Certainly not. What about some of these other stories? How about Jonah being swallowed
up in the belly of the fish? He was in rebellion, but I guarantee
he wasn't rejoicing to be in. As a matter of fact, he said,
out of the belly of hell, I've cried. But it was for his good and for
the glory of God. The Lord put him where he wanted
him, didn't he? Wherever we find ourselves, whether it's amazing
that we're always to blame for everything that When we end up
in the belly of hell, it seems like we're the problem. You know,
that's true, isn't it? I'm the problem, I'm to blame,
Lord, save me. Every time we cry out for saving, it's all
our fault and he gets all the glory. And every time he saves
us, it's all his doing and he gets all the glory. And we love
that about our God. Wherever we find ourself, no
matter the circumstance, may we count it all joy, knowing
that he's seated on the throne. He's seated on the throne. We know all things work together
for good. Who's good? Your good. Your good,
child of God, works together for your good to them that are
called according to his purpose. If you're called according to
his purpose, everything, all things work together for good. Every trial is given to prove
our faith is true and our flesh is false. Every trial is given
to prove our faith is true and our flesh is false. And that's
a good thing. It may hurt. Flesh don't like
it. Flesh never will. But it's a
good thing. It's a good thing. It's what the Lord said. Made
to have no confidence in the flesh. That's a good thing. That's
a good thing. I was I always get in trouble
talking about my age because I'm too young to talk about some
things to talk about, but I got married really young and been
through some things. But I find that even now at my age, I can't
do things that I once did without having problems. And I was talking,
I think I was talking to Al a little bit and kind of felt stupid for
even mentioning it because when you get, the older you get, the
harder it gets and everybody can understand what I'm saying
in that regard. No matter what it is, no matter
your age, your strength fades eventually. No matter how intelligent
you are, your mind fades eventually. We have no confidence in the
flesh. The Lord's going to see to it. By the time you draw your
last breath, you have zero confidence in your flesh. And the only hope
that you have is the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what he does for his people. He does it by trials. He does
it by afflictions. He does it by breaking us down
one way or another. Emotionally, mentally, physically,
causing us, Lord, save me again. I can't do this. I can't do this. We're made to say truth, Lord,
you're right, and I'm wrong. You're truth, and I'm false.
You're good, and I'm the bad. You're righteous, and I'm the
sinner. I need a substitute. I need a substitute. Save me,
Lord. Peter didn't have much confidence
of swimming back to the boat when he sunk, did he? He didn't
say, Lord, give me a second, I'll see if I got this. No, no. No, he cried out, Lord, save
me, immediately, didn't he? The Lord, by trials and tribulations
and afflictions, proves the weakness of our flesh, and it creates
the need of a Savior. Creates the need of the Savior. And that's the only time that
we'll say, Lord, save me. And it's a good thing. Can you
say I've got to have the Lord Jesus Christ, no matter the circumstance,
I've got to have him. If you can count it all joy,
count it all joy when you find yourself in whatever circumstance
you're in, knowing that he's seated, knowing that he successfully
redeemed. Can you rejoice that he put away
the sin of his people? You know that, don't you? I know,
and you know that he put the sin of his people away. There's
no doubt. Then count it all joy when you
fall into diverse temptation. Rejoice in his purpose. Believe
him. If he put your sin away, do we
not think that he's ordered every other detail of our life? Of
course. Of course, he did the most impossible
thing that we could do, and that's redeem ourself. He did that for
us. Now, is he going to leave us by the wayside to deal with
the cares and circumstances of this life on our own? No, no,
he's going to keep us. He's going to keep us. We're
kept by the power of God. Rejoice that the trial is his
providence. It's not punishment, brethren.
Somebody said, well, this is happening is so and so because
they've done this and they've done that. And that was a big
thing in religion. You do this wrong. And that means that equals
this. Well, that's I mean, if I'm speeding and I get a ticket,
I understand that logic. But that's not what they mean.
That means that they've upset God is what they're saying. And
that's not true. That's not true. The Lord is angry with the wicked
and they that are in Christ Jesus are made the righteousness of
God in him. Rest in knowing that the wrath of God has been satisfied
on the cross of Calvary and that sort of justice will never awake
again for all of those that were in Christ Jesus. Whatever is
happening in your life isn't because you've done something.
It's because God's providence, if you're his, it's for your
good and his glory. He's bringing you to the knowledge
of the truth more and more so that you have no confidence in
the flesh and all of your confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
does that by giving faith that just believes him. We know the trying of our faith
worketh patience. That trying is the same word
as chastening. Chastening means to be taught. I remember thinking
in religion that chastening meant getting beat. You know, that
dad was chastening me. I thought I was getting whipped.
That's not what chastening means. The Lord don't whip his children.
He teaches them. He teaches them. What better
lesson? How longsuffering is our Lord? How patient is our
Lord? How loving? Boy, it's the love
of the Lord. It's the love of the Lord that
it's his goodness that leads men to repentance, isn't it?
It's his goodness. It's his love. The Lord said,
my people shall be willing in the day of my power. Do you know
why? Because they're all taught of me. He said, I'm going to
teach them. I'm going to make them have no confidence in the
flesh and complete confidence in my son. And that's what he
does for us. Nothing done in and by our flesh
can teach us the things of God. His spirit must teach us. Thankfully,
he says in Revelation chapter three, as many as I love, I rebuke
and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
One of the greatest evidences of being a child of God is. Affliction. It's affliction. It's chastening.
When you see a brother or sister that's going through a lot of
trials, whether it's, I could name several people I know, and
I think to myself, boy, the Lord must love them a whole lot because
they're going through a lot right now. That's why we lift each
other up unto the Lord. The Lord would give grace to
each other. The Lord would give grace to each other. No matter
the hardship, If we can start seeing hardships as hugs, that'd
be a little bit different perspective, wouldn't it? It's hard to see
it, and the flesh won't. But how do we see it that way? Look
to Christ. Believe Him. That's how we do it. That's the
only way we can do it. The next time you feel overwhelmed or
lost or discouraged, remember His promise. He cannot lie. I
will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Everything
has been ordered and provided by our God. Last thing I'll leave us with,
Paul said this as a comfort to the Lord's people, who shall
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?
Who? I like that he didn't even say
what, he said who. There's nobody that has that kind of power.
It's not possible. Shall tribulation? No. Shall distress? No. Shall persecution? He's asking
rhetorical question, isn't he? He's making you and I realize
something. It's an impossibility to be separated
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Everything that's
happening to the Lord's people right now is by divine providence
and purpose of God that was determined before time ever began. And now
the clock just keeps ticking and everything just keeps coming
to pass according to his will. Nothing is going to separate
you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. It is truly,
truly finished. Though the King commands us to
be cast into the fiery furnace, our God is in the furnace. Our
God is the God of the fiery furnace. Though He commands us to be cast
into the den of lions, do we believe that He has the power
to close the lion's mouth? Truth, Lord. Truth, Lord, if
you command that, I know you can, if you will. Lord, if you
will, I'll be made whole. I can be made whole if you will.
Lord said, I will be thou made whole. Now, if we have not the faith
that rests in Christ alone, the promise is this, ask and you
shall receive. If you have not this faith that
rests in the Lord alone that I'm talking about, The only thing
that keeps us looking is the faith that he gives us. If we
don't have that faith and we need it, if there's a trial that
we're facing and we're having difficulty rejoicing, ask. Lord,
cause me to rejoice in Christ right now. Cause me to have joy
right now, no matter what I'm facing. Cause me to take my eyes
off of the storm and focus on you and your finished work. There's
where our rest is. There's no other rest. We're
not gonna find rest in the circumstance. We're not gonna find rest in
the trial. Boy, there's rest in Christ no matter what it is.
Look to Christ, ask and you shall receive. That's what he said.
Look in verse five. Any of you like wisdom, let him
ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth
not and it shall be given unto him. What a promise. What's wisdom? Christ is our wisdom. If you
lack seeing Christ, ask him. Ask him. It's not presumptuous
to ask. He commands you to ask him from
the heart of faith. Lord, give me Christ. Cause me
to rest right now. Cause me to count it all joy,
whatever I'm facing, knowing that you've ordained it. Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. That's repentance and faith, isn't it? Lord, give
me repentance and faith right now. If you've not bowed to him,
do so right now. Ask for the heart of faith that
he's given. He's commanded us to. He's commanded us to. What glorious promises he gives
us in his word. The only way that we can count
it all joy that the Lord chastens us is realizing he only chastens
his children. He only chastens his children. Boy, that changes perspective,
don't it? If I'm being chastened of the Lord, you know what that
means? I'm his child. What am I worried about then?
There's rest in that, isn't there? There's rest in that. How do
we count it all joy, no matter what it is? Looking into the
Lamb of God. No matter the trial, no matter
the circumstance, take our eyes off of this world, look to Christ,
look to Christ. And then and only then can you
count it all joy. That's the only way. That's the
only way. May the Lord cause us to do so. Let us pray. Father
calls us according to your will. We're asking now that you would
give us this wisdom and you cause us to rest truly in Christ's
name. Amen. In closing, let's turn
to number.