Finding Security in a Troubled World

we're rejoicing in our hearts for the opportunity to open the Word of God together and to try to help you understand what you probably already know if you're a part of Grace Community Church that the Lord has revealed to us enough truth in his word basically to cover any of the issues of life and certainly that includes the one that we're all involved in as I look back over well now about 51 years of ministry here at Grace Church I I remember that through the years basically we have gone book by book chapter by chapter verse by verse sometimes word by word we have worked our way through the entire New Testament gone back to pick up some books for a second time basically in the early years preach through the Old Testament God as far as about Psalm 72 if I remember series we were doing on Wednesday nights and so basically X positing the Word of God verse by verse but occasionally through the years we have also had some very important times in our church when we addressed a doctrine a theological category a theological truth and those series have been helpful as well occasionally beyond the normal X positive preaching and even those doctrinal series that we have done we have been forced to address sort of rare events I guess you could say things that so dominate the society that everybody becomes aware of them if not everybody in the world certainly everybody around Grace Community Church and I think back to those kinds of times when I stepped into this pulpit and addressed an issue that had somehow become so widespread that I couldn't ignore it I think the first time that happened was on March 2nd in 1988 there was a very famous television evangelist known basically to anybody who had a television in those days by the name of Jimmy Swaggart and there was a massive faul that occurred in his life so much so that it was picked up by all the media and I remember giving a lesson from the fall of this evangelist a lesson around the idea of moral shipwreck it was something I couldn't avoid because it was it was so much in the news it was a couple of years later on January 20th in 1991 that the United States engaged in the opening of what is known as the Gulf War and people were asking all kinds of questions about how do Christians relate to war what does the Bible say about war should we go to battle and so I did a brief series on war what the Bible says about war it was only a year later that here in Los Angeles in fact that was in May on the 3rd of May of 1992 that we had an event that scarred our city for a long time it was known as the riots it was of course on the global media as well and I needed to address that from a biblical perspective so I did we had a message on the biblical perspective and what that reveals about mankind two years later it was January 23rd 1994 when we had a massive earthquake known as the Northridge earthquake and it was important for us because everybody out here felt that shaking to look at that from a biblical perspective as well and remember that the church received a lot of new people coming into the church in the next few weeks after the earthquake because people were so terrified there was a little bit of time that went by and then it was it was September and it was September 16th when I stepped into this pulpit in 2001 and gave a message on 9/11 on terrorism jihad and the Bible the 9/11 event happened on a Tuesday and I had to figure it all out at least from a biblical perspective and be ready to explain it to our congregation on that following Sunday September 16th of 2001 eleven years went by before I felt like there was another issue that reached the level where we had to stop everything and address it and it was September 23rd of 2012 it was when there was an election going on national election in our country and the Democratic Party had decided that two of its advocacy platforms were going to be homosexuality and abortion they were positive affirmations made by the Democratic Party to get people to vote for them those who supported the slaughter of babies and homosexuality that was the defining time in our nation's history and for the world three years later the Supreme Court legalized homosexual so-called marriage it was July 19th and I gave a message entitled we will not bow now here we are 2020 and our nation is facing something that has circled the globe the coronavirus epidemic and it has created fear confusion doubt questions everywhere and we haven't seen the end of it yet it's still moving at a rapid rate we don't know the final outcome of that not just the physical outcome of the illness itself but the implications that have hit everyone from an economic standpoint and even though ninety-nine point something percent of people who receive this will recover from it there is still mounting fear not just from the illness itself but from all that's happening around it that is changing people's lives and to be honest with you it's something that you haven't experienced most of you who are listening to me won't get this it's a very small number of people and as I said the vast majority of those recover and yet the kayson's of this are frightening to people because it's taken life out of their control now if you were with us last week you remember that our Lord said stop worrying about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself each day has enough trouble of its own Matthew 6 stop worrying we talked about that from Matthew 6 stop worrying have you forgotten who your father is you belong to the Lord have you forgotten what family you're in you're not a part of those people in the kingdom of darkness you're a part of the kingdom of God you're part of the family of God you're children of God you're to be cared for as members of his eternal family remember who your father is remember who your family isn't and thirdly we talked about the fact that you might have forgotten what your future is you don't need to worry about your future it's in our Lord's hands remember your father remember your family remember your future we talked about that last time you have enough trouble today without projecting trouble that may never come in the future we all have enough trouble for the day we understand that health jobs money marriage children difficult people I mean we understand all the categories that bring us trouble but it's more than it's ever been in human history and we have to admit that and this is a good illustration of it if you just knew what was going on in your family and what was going on in your neighborhood and what was going on in the little circle that you live in you probably wouldn't be scared about anything because not knowing that there's something out there that has the potential to do harm wouldn't be known to you that that that exists you might not even know and you would live your life in a certain kind of simplicity we don't live in that world anymore we all know everything and what that does is basically add to the burden that we bear it's enough to deal with the trouble in your own life and now because of media we literally have to carry the trouble of everyone on the planet which is overexposed to us that the burdens become utterly overwhelming and debilitating in some cases unbearable and even depressing the world can be a difficult place Isaiah 822 says look to the earth and behold distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish we understand that on a more personal level Solomon writing in Ecclesiastes chapter 2 said I hated life for the work which had been done under the Sun was Grievous to me because everything is futility and striving after wind because all of a man's days his task is painful and grievous even at night his mind does not rest now that's a man with no media that's a man just saying life is vain just in my own circle of experience Jesus said in John 16:33 in the world you will have tribulation you'll have trouble the word in the Greek is actually pressure the Bible however always tells us this that God is in the trouble God is in the trouble he's not just looking at the trouble he's not just allowing the trouble he is in the trouble listen to Isaiah 14:24 the Lord of Hosts has sworn saying surely just as I have intended so it has happened and just as I have planned so it will stand again Isaiah says in chapter 46 my purpose will be established and I will accomplish all my good pleasure truly I have spoken truly I will bring it to pass I have planned it surely I will do it and what is God speaking of everything actually everything in the Prophet Amos there is a statement made actually a couple of statements made in the third chapter of Amos that I and want to read to you Amos is a very brief book but a very rich book and this particular portion of it is very helpful to us as we think about our current stress Amos chapter three verse six if a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble if a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it some people want to sort of divest God of responsibility for what goes wrong that's not the right approach if a calamity occurs in the city has not the Lord done it the next verse verse seven of Amos three surely the Lord God does nothing unless he reveals his secret counsel to his servants the prophets so God is the one who does things even calamity is done within the framework of the Lord's will and he says he doesn't do those kinds of things unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets what that's telling us is that in in ancient history recorded in the Word of God when when God brought about a calamity it was inevitably a judgment and that judgment had a warning and the warning would always come from God to the prophets the prophets would warn the people and then God would bring his judgment where there was a failure to repent God is not hiding from his own judgments God will declare his right as the just and holy God to judge sin and iniquity and when judgment comes God takes full responsibility for it again people want to exonerate God from trouble as if somehow that made him less than holy and pure when the fact of the matter is his holiness his absolute purity and righteousness demands justice and judgment the question is not why does God allow these things to happen the question is why doesn't God allow them to happen more often or even turn only in lamentations chapter three we read in verse 37 who is there who speaks and it comes to pass unless the Lord has commanded it is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth why should any living mortal or any man offer complaint in view of his sins what an amazing statement so you see calamity come to pass it comes to pass because the Lord commands it it is from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth and why should any living mortal or any men offer complaint in view of his sins those of us all of us are sinners we have no right to complain against the holiness of God we can't complain we are sinners there was a book written by Rabbi Kushner years ago called why do bad things happen to good people and he went chapter after Chapter after Chapter trying to discuss why bad things happen to good people and the book could have been very simple the title would have been why do bad things happen to good people you open the book and it should have said one thing there are no good people there are no good people why do bad things happen to good people there are no good people for all of sinned and come short of the glory of God bad things will always happen because there are no good people we are all sinners now in ancient times as we read earlier from Amos God would reveal his coming judgment by his prophets God would reveal his purpose so his people would know what was coming and why it was coming that happened many times in Scripture but that's not the case in all of God's judgments and it's not the case now because there are no real prophets as Old Testament prophets were there is no new revelation God is not revealing things that is all completed at the end of the book of Revelation in Scripture so we're looking at the world and we're seeing things happen but we don't have the prophets as the Old Testament people did so we can say with Isaiah 45 15 truly you are a God who hides yourself we don't get a word from heaven now we're not hearing from God as to why this is all happening that puts us in an interesting situation that puts us in a place very much like a character in the Bible and that character is job go back to the book of Job with me for a moment you're going all the way back to the patriarchal period of time with Jobe all the way back to the time of Genesis is when Jobe was living he's introduced to us in the first chapter as a man in the land of Oz blameless upright fearing God and turning away from evil that's the best could ever be said about anyone which is to say salvation and sanctification were already operating in the patriarchal period and we all know the story he had the great wealth he had large family and all of a sudden everything began to go wrong in his life and he doesn't know why we know why because in chapter 1 and 2 of Job Satan comes to God and Satan says to God hey does job fear God for nothing in other words the reason job fears you the reason he's righteous the reason he's such a good man the reason he worship you the way does is because you have blessed him so greatly you've made a hedge about him his house and all that he has on every side you've blessed the work of his hands you you've given him possessions they've increased in the land then Satan says to God but put forth your hand and touch all that he has and he will curse you to your face Jobe only worships you serves you because you've blessed him take away the blessing you curse you so this is the test will a faithful righteous man be faithful and righteous when he has everything taken away and the story unfolds from there God says I'm going to prove the character of saving faith I'm going to prove the power of life spiritual life I'm going to prove the power of sanctification and so God allows Satan to unleash all kinds of Horrors on job and job losses everything his friends come around and give him really bad advice and he's struggling with all of this he's struggling because he doesn't understand he doesn't know about the conversation between God and Satan God is hidden the conversation is hidden he doesn't know why it's happening his friends give him wrong answers they give him good theology in a generic sense but badly applied and irrelevant in his case finally after hearing bad advice and poor insights and condemnation from his friends that is not legitimate God speaks that's in Chapter 38 of job you might want to look at that for a moment and God does not tell him anything about what he's doing God doesn't say look Satan and I were in a confrontation and this is why I'm doing this because I want to prove the validity of your faith I want to prove that saving faith is everlasting can't be broken I want to prove the power of sanctification he doesn't say anything about that it doesn't tell job anything about the conversation with Satan so here God hides the reality and what God does from chapter 38 to 41 is just a barrage of questions that essentially say to job you don't even have a right to ask this question the Lord says who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge now gird up your loins like a man and I'll ask you and you instruct me where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth what where were you verse 6 when it's bases were sunk where were you in the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy speaking of the Angels most likely at creation where were you when I made the sea where were you when I made clouds verse 12 have you ever in your life commanded the morning caused the dawn to know its place it just goes on like this verse 16 have you entered into the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep have the gates of death been revealed to you verse 19 where is the way to the dwelling of light and darkness where is its place he's asking him questions that say you're not even entitled to know anything who do you think you are to question me this is so far above you what I do is so far above you it is so infinitely above you it makes no sense that you would even question me down in verse 31 he even refers to the fact that God has designed and put in place the constellations and he identifies them verse 39 he talks about the animals and goes into verse 1 of chapter 39 talking about more animals talks about animals all the way through chapter 39 chapter 40 verse 1 will the fault finder contend with the Almighty let him who reproves God answer it Jobe finally gets the message and says in verse 4 I'm insignificant what can I reply to you I lay my hand on my mouth once I have spoken I will not answer even twice I will add nothing more okay it's too far beyond me you couldn't give me an answer that I could even comprehend God's not done with him in chapter 41 he starts it all over again can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or pressed down his tongue with the cord speaking of great sea monsters and he keeps going with that same approach all the way through chapter 41 and job finally in chapter 42 says I know you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted what came out of all that you are sovereign you are sovereign I get it I don't understand I get it this knowledge is hidden it's too wonderful for me I don't know it I can't understand it and he says in verse 5 of chapter 42 I have heard of you by the hearing of the year and now my eye sees you for the first time I see you in a new way therefore I repent in dust and ashes Jobe asked forgiveness for even assuming that he could understand the purposes of God you don't need to know job trust me trust me I do I repent I trust you knowing the divine mind in all of its infinite complexities is not possible to us the innumerable incalculable infinite complexities and contingencies that function in the mind of God that caused him to do what he does in the way he does it and where he does it are far beyond our capacity to grasp and certainly knowing the reasons why God does anything and knowing the future is beyond us but it's not only beyond us it's not good for us you wouldn't want to know the future you think you would but you wouldn't if you knew the future it would rob you of present joy if you knew the future was better that would rob you of current joy because you would be anticipating something better if you knew the future was worse that would rob you of present joy because you would live in fear you don't want to know you're gonna have a car accident in six months you don't want to know you're gonna have cancer in three years you don't want to know that your child is going to perish you don't want to know that your wife is going to leave you you don't want to know that somebody you love is going down in a plane crash you don't want to know that death is looming over your household you don't want to know that you can't live with that now that would steal all your joy God is far too complex for you and he only lets you know what you need to know and what you need to know is this that he is marked as we read in Psalm 103 by compassion kindness grace mercy forgiveness fatherly love and care for his own children that's what you need to know and that's really all you need to know trust me trust me God says so we are seeing things happen in our lifetime in our world and they come a lot more rapidly than perhaps they have in the past because the law of intro' he is working things are breaking down perhaps more specifically they come in a lot greater volume because we by the media know everything that's wrong everywhere so what do we do like job do we say what's going on god what's going on I demand to know I want to know I want to figure this out and God says to us it's way beyond your ability to grasp just look at the entire creation macro creation micro creation everything in between all the bodies in space all the molecules of life on this planet the complexity of it is so massive and God functions simply in that complexity and an explanation given to you would be utterly beyond your comprehension there are some things he wants you to know [Music] there are some things he wants you to know for certain and here's the main one that he works all things according to his will he works all things according to his will Ephesians 1:11 that's that's what you need to know and then you need to know this Romans 8:28 that he works all things together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose so he does everything according to his will in the universe and job does God's testimony that he runs everything in the universe he even gets specific in those chapters as we pointed out what God wants you to know is he is in charge of absolutely everything at a complexity level that is so vastly beyond your comprehension that explaining it would be useless but he wants you to know this it's all according to his will that everything operates that is to say he is absolutely sovereign in the world he is in control and what he purposes is exactly what comes to pass and he wants you to know that if you belong to him it's all working together for your good and then there's a third thing he wants you to know and that is that in the end it is all for his glory he is doing what he wills what he purposes in everything he is accomplishing you're good in everything because he loves you and you're his child and he is to receive the glory in the end for all of it John Piper was looking at Romans 8:28 all things work together for good and he wrote this all things includes the fall of sparrows the rolling of dice these are all from biblical texts the fall of sparrows the rolling of dice the slaughter of his people the decisions of Kings the failing of sight the sickness of children the loss and gain of money the suffering of saints the completion of travel plans the persecution of Christians the repentance of souls the gift of faith the pursuit of holiness the growth of believers the giving of life and the taking in death and the crucifixion of his son and as I read in Isaiah 46 God says my counsel shall stand I will do all my pleasure indeed I have spoken it I will also bring it to pass I have purpose that I will do it this is not to say that God creates evil this is to say that God is not overwhelmed by evil but that God controls evil to his own ends and purposes which are all righteous and glorious so what I'm trying to do I guess in a measure is to put you in the place of Jobe and let you know that God is hiding in this event and there are no prophets to declare what he's doing so what are we supposed to do in response to that know this that everything that is happening is in his will that everything that happens is going to turn out for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose and ultimately for his own glory because all things are by him and for him Romans 11 he doesn't tell us why he does everything again it's too complex he doesn't tell us the future because we can't possibly even handle the present trouble compounded by knowing the world's trouble God spares us mercifully the knowledge of the future the information God does give us is all we need ignorance of the future leads to trust in God who has eternally secured our future and ignorant of the future is a sweet and kind gift from God to us if God gave us more information we wouldn't understand it it wouldn't make sense to us because it only makes sense to God it was an infinite mind the contingencies related to any information given to us would be so complex as to overwhelm us God wants us to know this you're mine I love you I sent my son to die for you you're my child trust me trust me God is in charge of everything he's not revealing everything but is doing something and that is he's teaching us to trust him he's teaching us to trust him and most of those lessons are much more enhanced and much more intense and much more effective when we're in trouble we don't learn a lot when everything's go well we don't listen very well we start listening when we're at the end of our ability to control something when life's getting away from us when when forces beyond us have taken over maybe we become a little more eager to listen and what would God say to us what lessons does he want us to learn I'm gonna give you some of those just a list taken from a number of passages of Scripture but let me tell you what God is doing in your life and my life in this time of trouble number one God uses trouble and this is in a general sense this is in a broad sense but it's applicable in a specific sense God uses trouble to test the strength of our faith God uses trouble to test the strength of our faith and now by the way he doesn't need to test it for his information he knows that but he tested for our information listen to Exodus chapter 16 verse 4 the Lord said to Moses behold I will rain bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day that I may test them whether or not they will walk in my instruction will they go out and take just enough for a day and believe God that the next day he will provide more bread and the next day more bread and on the sixth day they can bring in twice as much because there won't be any bread on the Sabbath will will they do what I command them to do there's a test the test was they needed food they didn't know where that food was going to come from would they be willing to do what God said when essentially they were putting their lives on the line the the notion probably would enter the mind of any Jewish person out in the wilderness at that time I'm gonna get everything I can get they would do with the bread what everybody's doing with the bread now in the market there's a panic toward hoarding which is a test of faith do you think God's gonna provide the next day he told you one day at a time this is a test to see if you really trust him in Deuteronomy chapter 8 God is still testing the people of Israel all the commandments verse 1 that I'm commanding you today should be careful to do that you may live and multiply go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these 40 years that he might humble you testing you to know what was in your heart whether you would keep his Commandments or not so he humbled you and let you be hungry and fed you with manna in other words everything that's happening in terms of a deep privation pushes you into a category of trust to find out the strength of your faith another illustration of this can be found in the prophecy of Habakkuk Habakkuk sees doom on the horizon and he says in the opening of his prophecy the Oracle which evacuate the Prophet saw how long O Lord will I call for help and you will not hear I cry out to you violence you do not save why do you make me see iniquity and cause me to look on wickedness yes destruction and violence are before me strife exists in contention arises therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld for the wicked surround the righteous justice comes out perverted are you looking look at the nation's observe says God back because I'm doing something in your days you wouldn't leave if you were told it doesn't look good trust me trust me that's the lesson this is a test of habakkuk faith how did he do with the test well over in the third chapter of the back there's one of the most wonderful portions of scripture anywhere verse 16 the end of chapter 3 the end of the prophecy I heard I heard from God and my inward parts trembled at the sound my lips quivered decay enters my bones and in my place I tremble because I must wait quietly for the day of distress for the people to arise who will invade us he's terrified because the prophecies telling him that invaders are coming and they're coming with power and judgment on the Jewish people but notice his faith verse 17 though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines though the yield of the olives should fail and the fields produce no food though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls look he's an agrarian guy he lives in an agrarian culture if everything that is predictable fig trees blossoming fruit showing up on vines olive oil not failing over hundreds of years from the same tree if everything that is normal and routine is changed dramatically yet I will exalt in the Lord I will rejoice in the God of my salvation the Lord God is my strength and he has made my feet like Hinds feet like mountain goats feet and he makes me walk on my high places and actually he gives instruction to turn it into a song for the choir director on a strained instrument if everything in my world that I know is routine and normal goes away disappears is so dramatically altered as if to not exist I will rejoice in the God of my salvation the Lord God is my strength I'm like a mountain goat on high places this is why God brings trouble doesn't need to explain anything to us what he does in that trouble first of all is test our faith in Him second chronicles 3231 says about Hezekiah god left him to test him that he might know what was in his heart not that God might know but that Hezekiah might know God knows what's in our heart God knows everything the test is for us so that we can do an honest evaluation of our faith so how are you doing in this momentary chaos of a virus how's your faith you should be rejoicing according to Peter in 1st Peter 1:6 in this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ Peter is saying you ought to be grateful you're going through a trial because that trial is going to prove the validity of your faith this is the reason that as far as believers are concerned God allows those trials for us to test the strength of our faith secondly I would say and it kind of flows out of that God has a second purpose and that is to Humble us I would suggest to you that anyone going through a test of faith legitimately and honestly is going to say I need more faith I need more faith and you're going to be humbled the severus test of faith on the most faithful person is not likely to cause that faithful person to be proud about his or her faithfulness but rather the most godly and spiritual person in the midst of the trial would say Lord I believe strengthened my faith in 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 there's a text that speaks so directly to this Paul his suffering a thorn in the flesh this thorn in the flesh is not likely a physical ailment this thorn in the flesh is described as a messenger of Satan a messenger as Angelus the satanic angel is a demon most likely this demon was tormenting him not on a personal level but tormenting him by leading the attacks on his beloved Corinthian church and this became painful and agonizing for Paul that demon led false teachers were tearing up his beloved Corinthian church so verse 7 he says because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation for this reason to keep me from exalting myself there was given me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me to keep me from exalting myself why would God allow demonically inspired false teachers to do damage to the Corinthian church the answer is to Humble Paul when you think of Paul you think of the godliest of men without without equal and yet pride was a reality in his life because of the many revelations that he had had and he says even I in the midst of this trial recognize that God is humbling me I implored the Lord three times that this might stop and he said to me my grace is sufficient for you for power is perfected in weakness most gladly therefore I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me therefore I am well content with weaknesses with insults with distresses with persecutions with difficulties for Christ's sake for when I'm weak then I'm strong Paul is being crushed in his heart it's like a speared being driven through him the word thorn is much more than a small thorn it's essentially a spear being driven through his body to see what's happening to the Corinthian church but the Lord is allowing it to happen to humble him because he had so many revelations he needed to be humbled he needed to recognize that spiritual power is perfected in weakness the Lord puts us through trials then to test the strength of our faith and in the testing to show us that our faith is far less than it should be even the noblest of us and therefore to Humble us to the point where we would say with Paul I am well content with weaknesses give me more of this if it humbles me is that something you've thought about whatever the de-stresses are currently are you saying Lord I'm not what I should be I thank you for the the reality of my faith the truthfulness of my faith it's the real thing my faith holds and stands this test has proven the validity of the faith you gave me in Christ but can you say Lord bring on more whatever it takes to humble me because I know your power is perfected in my weakness I will rather boast gladly about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me it's a way of saying I never want to be the explanation for my usefulness to the Lord I wanted always to be his power in me he is content verse 10 says we'll say more about that next Sunday he is content with weaknesses insults de-stresses persecutions and difficulties for Christ's sake because they drive him to the reality of his weakness which then relates to the fact that he has to depend on God [Music] so the Lord brings these things into our lives to test the strength of our faith and in the testing and inevitably our pride self confidence self Trust is exposed and we are humbled there are the two profoundly initial realities of what the Lord is doing in our lives I think there's a third principle I think the Lord is weaning us from earthly things the Lord is weaning us from earthly things in Colossians Paul says set your affections on things above and not on things on the earth we know that we believe that but that's hard to do because we are so engulfed with the things of the earth and we're not living in the culture that would be like the biblical culture where the things of the earth were pretty minimalistic where I don't think there were any local storage units that you had to rent in order to put your stuff in them life was meager you had the clothes on your back and maybe a change or two you had food for a few days and then you had to find a way to get more food you had to grow that food you had to process that yourself but even in that world it was easy to get caught up with the earthly enterprises so Paul says set your mind on the things above not on things on the earth for you have died your life is hidden with Christ in God well what are those earthly things you need to turn from immorality impurity passion evil desire greed you once walked in those things put them away along with anger wrath malice slander abusive speech don't lie put on the new self renewed and a true knowledge according to the image of one who created him be marked by compassion kindness humility gentleness patience bearing with one another forgiving each other whoever has a complaint against anyone just as the Lord forgave you so also should you beyond all these things put on love which is the perfect bond of unity let the Peace of Christ rule in your heart to which indeed you were called into one body and be thankful and then let the word of Christ richly dwell within you in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with thankfulness in your heart to God whatever you do in word or deed do all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks through him to God the Father whoa that's a godly life that's what it means to set your mind on things above and not on things on the earth one of the benefits of a massive trial like this is the fact that there's a certain sense in which the reset button has been set in all of our lives we don't know what the next chapter is going to look like but we do know this that it's for our good it's according to the will of God and will bring him glory and so we approach this with joy and peace and love and purity and holiness and virtue and kindness in other words we grasp all those heavenly realities that have been vouchsafed to us by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts there's a fourth reality that is important too and that is this trials call us to heavenly hope trials call us to heavenly hope in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 paul closes this chapter recognizing the difficulty verse 16 of 2nd corinthians 4 therefore we do not lose heart but though our outer man is decaying yet our inner man is being renewed day by day we're not only focused on those things that are heavenly but we're focused in the midst of trouble on the renewal of the inner man in other words we've been weaned from the world where we're now walking more in the spirit and we're in touch with what the Lord is doing in our hearts verse 17 for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison in other words how you respond to the trial is directly related to your eternal reward while we look he says in verse 18 not of the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal he goes on to say we're just in an earthly tent and if this is torn down we have a building from God a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens for indeed in this house we go longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven when things begin to be stripped away from you in this world your focus shifts to eternal glory in the language of Romans 8 you are looking for the redemption of the body you've already had the redemption of the soul you're looking for the redemption of the body when we are changed into the very image of Jesus Christ just a couple of other things to think about this would be a fifth work of the Lord in this process of going through trouble God designs trouble to reveal what we really love to reveal what we really love what do you love this is the kind of situation that will reveal that is anything especially dear to you it's going to show up in a time of stress I can't help but go anywhere am I thinking but to Genesis 22 when the most horrible of all situations occurs a man is told by God to take the life of his beloved son covenant son man is Abraham the son is Isaac and God says I want you to take his life all Abraham's hopes and all of his connections to the promise of God were in Isaac but Abraham took him Genesis 22 says bound his son Isaac verse 9 laid him on the altar on top of the wood stretched out his hand took the knife to slay his son but the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said Abraham Abraham and he said Here I am he said do not stretch out your hand against the lad do nothing to him for now I know that you fear God fear not in the sense of terror but in the sense of respect Abraham has so much respect for God that when God tells him to take his son's life he's ready to plunge the knife the writer of Hebrews tells us what was in Abraham's mind and it was this that he believed in the Covenant promise of God so strongly that he knew God would raise Isaac from the dead to fulfill that covenant there's no question that Abraham loved Isaac there's also no question he loved God more that's that's what happens in times of distress what you really love who you really love becomes manifest and if you really love God then in the midst of all the distress your rejoicing because God is in the distress it is his will for your good and for his glory listen to Deuteronomy 13 verse 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams of false prophet for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul you shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him and keep his Commandments listen to his voice serve Him and cling to him is that what you're doing in this you're finding out who you really love there's another principle that God is working in our lives through this he is putting us through trials that will enable us to help others in their trials I think of Luke 22 where Jesus says Peter you're gonna go through this you're gonna deny me on three occasions multiple times but in the end when you are converted and when you are turned around and go the right way you will strengthen the Brethren you will strengthen the Brethren the God of all comfort Paul says comforts us that we might comfort others this is the work of God we become more useful to others we become more devoted to the Lord because we love him more than anything else and whatever else might be taken away from us only leaves us with less which makes it easier to focus on the one who really matters and that is God are you finding that you love him with all your heart and with all your soul that's the test and in the end the final word is pretty simple God does what brings him glory if you love him you rejoice in that reality we sing about that we sing what the Angels stated glory to God in the highest we say that we want to give him glory in everything we use the word glory we want to bring honor and glory to God that is what he is doing in all things God will receive glory from this current stress we don't know exactly all the ways he will but he does that's why it's happening the end of all that I have to say to you is this you are a part of something God is doing and you're on the top side of it if you're a believer you're you're on the heavenly side of it you're looking down on this from the heavenly perspective you have God's view of it now and again it is within his will every single element of it it is for your good and for his glory ultimately and your highest good should be his greatest glory we don't worry because we know who our father is we know who our family is and we know what our future is we don't worry but we do become learners through this kind of situation we have the responsibility to learn the lessons that the Lord is teaching us you can take a look at your own life and examine where you are in regard to the things we've talked about but if you look at them rightly you see this not as a threat but as an incredibly wonderful promising opportunity to grow in Grayson and the knowledge of Christ and become more like the Savior more faithful to the Lord more obedient more useful to him more joyful more the source of all that is good and godly then you were without this trial we ought to be the shining lights in the midst of all of this and when it's done if you have been a faithful Moffatt ace a faithful learner or disciple all these lessons will be for your good and His glory father we do thank you that we've been able to hear from you in your word this morning thank you for all those who have gathered with us around the world and our hearts are encouraged we rejoice today we have no fear we have nothing to fear we have no worry or anxiety because you are in control of everything it's all designed for your glory through our good as you pour out grace upon grace mercy upon mercy on your people it redounds to your glory through the increased worship of those who are recipients of that blessing Lord show your glory make it clear to the whole watching world that you reign and that you are a God of salvation offers that through faith in Jesus Christ and we will rejoice in the outcomes even though we don't know at the time what's happening in every situation we do know that you're in control for our blessing and the glory of your great name and that is for us enough and we thank you in the Savior's name Amen

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Views: 321,766

Rating: 4.7444358 out of 5

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You, covid-19 virus

Id: x3PyJ7yOnkE

Length: 63min 33sec (3813 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 25 2020