Well, there certainly are certain truths in scripture that are meant to grip us. And what better time to think of the truth we're focusing on this morning than the beginning of the year? Because the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is for the whole year, for the whole life, and for all eternity. It's precious blood, the Bible says. It's incorruptible blood, the Bible says. It's the blood of God, the Bible says, His precious blood. Now, we're redeemed through the blood of the Lamb. Now, it's foundational. The Bible says if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? If we give this truth up about the blood, we have nothing but the religion of Cain, as we'll see in a moment, dead and lifeless and only able to satisfy the human emotion for a moment. No single idea in the scripture is held in more constant view than the blood. There are over 460 specific references in the Bible to the blood and thousands of examples of application when it talks about the altar and sacrifice and sin offerings. Over and over, it's always the blood that's held before our eyes. Old Dr. Barnhouse said, you can cut this Bible on any page and it will bleed. There is a theme of the precious blood that goes all the way through. And Father God is trying to teach us something about that blood. From the very beginning, he's tried to make it clear to us that no one can stand before God in their own merit, in their own sincerity, in their own ideas about God. It has to come a righteousness given from God, a pure gift. Now, this goes all the way back. Before we come back to Exodus chapter 12, where we'll look at a little in detail, I want to consider for a moment this teaching in the book of Genesis. And if you'll look at chapter 4 for just a moment, I want to take you there and see what God is first teaching us about the blood. In Genesis chapter 4, we won't read the whole chapter, but may I say to you, It's built immediately on chapter three. Chapter three is when God comes to Adam after his sin, and he pronounces upon him the curse. He curses the devil. He curses Adam and the ground for his sake. And then he gives the word about the Messiah, that between the seed of woman and the seed of the devil, there would be a perpetual war. that this seed of woman would bruise the head, crush the head of the serpent as the heel of the seed of woman was bruised. And he was speaking about the Lord Jesus on the cross. Those feet nailed to the cross beneath that heel that was bruised would be crushed the head of the serpent. Now, apparently, Adam saw this because suddenly he turns to his wife and says, Your name shall be called Living One, Eve. And it's a strange thing to call your wife living after you've just been told that you're under a curse. And God made, it says, coats of skin. That's how it reads in the original language. Two coats of one skin. He took the covering of an innocent victim and covered the nakedness of Adam and Eve. And their nakedness was covered. Adam had tried to cover his own nakedness by fig leaves. I'd never want to be wearing fig leaves in a fire, would you? The fire is coming and a lot of people are wearing fig leaves. Isaiah says that we all are as an unclean thing and our iniquities have taken us away like leaves. The symbol of the Jewish nation was the fig leaf, the covering of religion. but not effectually covered by blood. In the very next chapter, chapter four, Cain and Abel come to an appointed place at an appointed time. And it says in verse three, in the process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground and offering to the Lord. The fruit of the ground was the best that he could do. He had sweat, he had toiled, and he had done the very best he could. Like bouquets of flowers and fruit, utter sincerity came to a prescribed place to offer to God the offering of sincerity. And Abel, verse four, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect to Abel and his offering. Now, Cain did not like it. And 1 John tells us that he became angry and he slew his brother Abel. because he was jealous of the ease with which God's favor came to him. Hebrews chapter 11 says, By faith it was that Abel offered a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. It was the sacrifice that separated them. Cain came by the works of his hands, by the deeds of his own life, and Abel came by the blood of the firstlings of the flock. He came by faith. Now, to come by faith, You have to have a word from God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And apparently Adam had told Cain and Abel about the lambs covering that Adam and Eve had received to cover their nakedness, righteousness given from God. In fact, the word for coats that God made for Adam and Eve is the very root word for which we get our word atonement in the Old Testament. The covering is the root word of the garment that the priests wore for a white linen to show forth the white righteousness of the saints. The book of Revelation tells us in chapter 7 that the white linen that the saints in heaven wear, they've made clean and white in the blood of the Lamb. So from Genesis to Revelation, God is trying to get across to us that it is always and only by the blood of the Lamb that we must come. There are two kinds of people in this room today. Those who have been washed in the blood of the lamb and are trusting him and him alone for their righteousness, those who come according to God's word by faith to him, the appointed altar, the Lord Jesus at the cross, and they're trusting him. And God says, you're as right with me as you can be by the blood of the lamb. not with corruptible things, as we heard, such as silver and gold or vain traditions handed down for hundreds of years through various denominations that a person might be in, but rather through the precious blood of the Lamb that God set up before the foundation of the world. And just at the end of time, When he came, the Lord Jesus was revealed for our sakes. That's the first kind. The second kind of person are those in this room who are sincere. They're here because their mother and father were. They're culturally acclimated to things of religion. They love the hymns. It makes them feel better to come to church. and recite and to pray. But yet they have never yet come God's way by the blood. They are yet coming by their own sincerity and their own thoughts and their own desires. And God says you're rejected. Only you can come. by the blood of the Lamb. It's an amazing thing. Now, think of how God shows this blood. It's ever-growing in its power and scope as you see it revealed throughout the Scripture. In Genesis chapter 4, you see the blood of the Lamb shed for an individual. In Exodus chapter 12, at which we're going to look in just one moment, you see the blood of the Lamb for a family. It covers them when judgment comes and the father applies the blood and the whole family is protected I would say to every father in this room of which I am one If the daddy doesn't take the blood of the lamb and put it over his house The devil will take your children. It's the father's responsibility to put the blood of the lamb over his home in prayer and by faith, to hold it before them, and that God might see and protect our homes. The blood of the Lamb for the family. In Leviticus, however, it's greater. Leviticus 16, God reveals the blood of the Lamb for a nation called Israel. The whole nation on Yom Kippur, the day of covering, the day of atonement, the day of blood. He ordained that they would come and by the blood of the Lamb, cover the sins in an act of obedience of a nation, that they all should come by faith under the blood of the Lamb. But then it goes further than that. In Isaiah 52, verse 15, it says, with his blood, he will sprinkle many nations, not just Israel. They were to be a witness to the world of the Lamb of God. And they lost touch and became exclusive and thinking perhaps that the God's call was a excuse for elitism. It can happen to you or me as well. And God will find another outlet. And so he sprinkles blood on every nation. Every man and every nation who feareth God, God will sprinkle with the blood. But then in John chapter one, we see the one that it says in Psalm 40, Lo, I am coming in the volume of this whole book. It is written of me. I'm coming to do thy will. Your word is within my heart. We see that timeless Lamb of God, who had been in the wings of history, casting his shadow through the Old Testament, it grew longer and longer, and in chapter 1 of John, he steps out. And there John, the Baptist John says, behold, the Lamb of God, who is taking away the sin of the world, not just every nation, but the whole world. Yes, his blood is the propitiation for the sins of not only believers, but the whole world, whosoever will might come. And under that blood, well, it goes further in first Peter that our sister read to us. It says that we're redeemed with the incorruptible blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he was ordained before history. So it's not just for the world. It's for all of history. And it goes beyond that in Revelation chapter 5. We see around the throne of the Lamb in the timelessness of eternity. We see all the hosts of heaven praising him by thy blood thou hast redeemed us to God and we have been made kings and priests by thy blood of every kindred and tongue and tribe and nation and we are now yours. Isn't that good? They're praising him today around the throne of the Lamb for the blood. And that's for all of created universe, bigger than history. God sprinkles the heavens with his blood. It says in Colossians, we have peace through the blood. Why do I put so much emphasis on the blood? Because God does. Woe to the man that does not love the blood of Jesus because he is perishing. In Genesis, in Revelation 22, the last chapter of the Bible, we see the blood of the lamb for all eternity availing much. A lamb at his birth. The Lord Jesus was born where lambs are born. He was born in Bethlehem. There, shepherds that were raising lambs born to die, who guarded them day and night and never left them. They would never do that because they were special Passover lambs. There it was that God the Father chose to reveal the announcement. Unto you is born this day in the city of David, Bethlehem, a Savior. He is Christ the Lord, the one that the prophets of old have told of. And suddenly there was a host of angels who couldn't keep quiet because Emmanuel had come. And we're celebrating that even still, not just at Christmas, but every day he has come and he is still in our midst. Well, it was at Bethlehem that they raised Passover flocks. If you go to Israel, they'll show you the place today where they kept Passover lambs. It's as if God said to shepherds raising lambs born to die in a figure, he said, boys, you're out of business. You're out of business because today the lamb has come. And he's born in the place where a lamb should be born, in a stable, in a feeding trough. He's being sent down Bethlehem, the house of bread. He's the bread of life set down in a feeding trough that you're to eat his flesh and drink his blood. And whoever does will live forever. And so we see him marked out as a lamb at his baptism. Behold the Lamb of God who's taking away the sin of the world. We see him marked out as a lamb at his triumphant entry, where it says in John 12, on the 10th day of the special month, he came into Jerusalem. It's the same day that all those Passover lambs would normally come into Jerusalem. And it's like pulling a white sheet over a hill, all those lambs coming in the sheep gate. And over here coming in the sheep gate as well was the Lord Jesus coming in, not on two legs, but four legs on the foal of an ass. And the people cried out, save now, save now. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And what a wonderful thing that he came in and for three days, there's so much time devoted to him. In the New Testament Gospels, they're taking those lambs into the courtyard of Passover time to examine them. They'd pull out their tongue to make sure it was perfect. Look at their ears and eyes and say, no spot. It's good for an offering. Well, God the Father left his lamb to be examined by Sadducees, Pharisees, Herodians, the common people, the soldiers. Everyone said, never a man spoke like this. He is spotless. We find no fault in him, even his enemies. God said, my lamb is perfect. You see, it was on the 14th day in the evening that they would take the Passover lambs to that great temple and they would sing the Hallel in the courtyard. And it was at that time that Jesus was hanging on the cross. And at that time, it was that as he could look, I believe, and see those great temple fires smoking. that God the Father saw the real Passover lamb. The lambs were ready to die. God's lamb was dying. And God said, it's finished, this ritual, these pictures, these types that go pointing toward Jesus. From this time, it's over. He tore the veil in the temple. Can you imagine the sheer horror that must have taken place as they were going about their rituals, ready to offer the blood on that special day as they'd done for hundreds of years? And no man could ever go through that veil. 2,000 priests it took to hang that veil, says Josephus. It was four inches thick and it was the size of this opening here. And there at a special moment when Jesus said, it is finished, that veil was a picture of his flesh. It says in Hebrews 10, from top to bottom done by God in the middle, like the lamb is divided in the half. God said, it's finished. And now the way into the very, Throne room of God is open by a new and living way, which Jesus Christ has made holy for us himself through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. Now, let me just relate all this to the Passover. Because you see, it's a clear picture for us. Remember, well, you look at it later, Exodus chapter 12. As God said to these people living under oppression, they'd been under the heel of Pharaoh, a picture of the devil. He said, I'm going to bring you out. It's going to be a new day for you. You're going to start your calendar over. It was their seventh month. But God said, it's going to be such a great work. You're going to start your calendar from here. It's almost as if saying, if you're in Christ, you're a new creation. All things pass away. All things become new. And so God said on the 10th day of this month, that's the very day that Jesus Christ would walk into Jerusalem. Thousands of years later, hundreds of years later, he would come in on the four legs. On that day, they took a lamb. And they would begin to observe that lamb to make sure it was perfect, a young lamb taken from its prime. And surely the children would say, what a wonderful little lamb. Nothing's more precious than a little lamb. My children would love it. And then on the 14th day in the evening, I would bring that as the father to the door of the house and pull its head back like this. And my child would say, what are you doing, daddy? Son, if this lamb does not die, you must die. It's a clear case of sin must be paid for. And I would pull that knife across the throat of that lamb and blood would erupt into what they said was the basin. It's an Egyptianism, which means sop. It's a drainage ditch beneath the door. Blood would spill in what was normally a drainage ditch, a pool of blood right at the entrance where you go in and out. And they would take a little bitter herb they eat in Passover from that day on, called hyssop, and apply it. It's not enough to believe the blood was shed. It must be personally appropriated with the bitter herbs of repentance, as we confessed a moment ago. I would take that herb and I would strike it is the Hebrew word on the top. It almost would resemble if you got a crown of thorns and mashed it against the top of that door. And I would then rub it on the two wooden side posts of that door. And as that blood was there, God said, when I see the blood, you go inside there and you eat the flesh of the lamb whose blood was shed for you. His blood is for you to take away wrath, but his flesh will give you strength for your journey that is going to be hard. And you abide beneath the blood. And I'm coming through to bring judgment on all the firstborn. It's a picture of all who've only been born once. When I come through tonight, I will see the blood. It's a token for God. See, everything depends upon the value that God places on the blood, not how you feel about it. God says it's enough. When I see the blood, I will pass over. I always thought that the Passover meant that God would turn his head and go the other way. But that word in the Hebrew does not mean that. The word Passover means to set up a vigilant guard over and protect. When I see the blood that you've applied on your door, I myself personally will set a guard over you and protect you against all your adversaries. Isn't that wonderful? And so they went in there and put that blood over them. And that night, no matter whether they were strong in confidence or weak in confidence, if they were under the blood, they all came out. And so it will be with us. the blood of Jesus Christ when it's applied in a figure to our hearts. Because you see, the heart is the door. We often say, open the door of my heart, in and out. Come in, Lord Jesus, and live. The door out of the heart flow the issues of our life, in and out. And we too must come by faith this morning, if you haven't, to Calvary. And we see that one that God said, when I see the blood, Imagine at Passover, God seeing the blood, it would speak to him of the one who said, I am the door. It's almost as if that token would be of a one coming who would come in on Jerusalem on the 10th day and who would be crucified the very moment they kill that lamb in Exodus. Blood at the top of the door where the head would be, blood on the sides where his arms would be nailed and blood flowing down into that pool beneath the cross. It's a perfect picture. We come and take those bitter herbs of repentance and apply it into that blood and put it on our hearts by faith. He sprinkles us. And when God sees the blood, he says, you're as righteous with me as you'll be a million years from now. I wonder what God looks at when he sees your heart this morning. Perhaps it's some unconfessed sin or some long not made right wrong. And when God looks at our heart and sees that, he cannot bless us as he longs to bless. But he says, when I see the blood, I will guard you against all comers. You see, it's not by works of righteousness, which I could ever do. But according to his mercy, that's not getting what I do deserve. And grace, that's getting what I don't deserve. God does both. As I, under the blood, God showers me abundantly with the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus. See, it doesn't matter if we're like Cain and we come here this morning dressed nicely, sincere. Speaking with utter devotion from a long-term historical relationship to the church, what matters is, does God see the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ on your heart? Have you, in faith, taken the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and come to the fountain that is open for sin? As it says in Romans 3.25, He has justified us freely, means without a reason, through the blood. It says that we have the blood of sprinkling on our heart. God wants to give us peace through the blood of the cross. When He looks in our heart and sees something, good deeds and other things, He cannot bless. But when we come to Him by the blood, He protects us against all comers. How do we apply the blood? Only one way. The moment that I, in poverty of spirit, say, Oh God, you're right and I'm wrong. There's no hope for me apart from thee. Lord, you're my only hope. I could never be good enough, and I've never been good enough. If I've ever told one lie or broken the law at one point, I'm completely disqualified. I'll never be able to recover. The only hope for me is the righteousness, which is by faith that Paul wrote of in Philippians 3, which comes as a gift from God. So how are you dressed this morning? Are you dressed in that white linen robe that comes through the coat, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you put on the Lord Jesus Christ or are you still standing in the filthy rags of Cain? That's the two kinds of people today, sons of God and sons of this world. And they are dressed in the robes of darkness. They're their own works. And they hate the people that say, trust Jesus by the blood. It's always been that way. That those who are righteous are persecuted by those who are not. Not by our own deeds, but by the blood of the Lamb. What a wonderful thing. We must apply the blood. Victory is a gift, not a growth. It's what God gives. The moment that I am willing to call sin, sin. Lord, there's no hope for me. You know what? That's good news for bad people. And you know what else? That's bad news for good people. Not all the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain could give my guilty conscience peace, nor wash away the stain. But Christ, the heavenly lamb, takes all my sins away, a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they. 1973 legal sacrifices every year, plus thousands of others, and 1,900 years of blood in the Old Testament. Oceans of blood, and it all points to the one to whom John said, behold, the Lamb of God. One drop of His precious, incorruptible blood is worth all those others. They did it pointing to Him. We look back and come to the cross. Well, I hope that you're under the blood this morning. And I hope that you're trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, His blood shed for you, His life, His word in you, and you go in the string. Christ, our Passover, it says in Corinthians, is sacrificed. Let us keep the feast. Are you Cain or are you Abel? Let the Holy Spirit have an answer. May I pray with you? As we bow before God, may I ask you this? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? May I just invite you as your heads are bowed to just trust Him now. If you're not washed in the blood, if there's anything else you're trusting in, would you trust him now? And may I ask you to acknowledge that by quietly looking up to Paul. Let him see your eyes. Paul, would you look at the eyes of people? May you look at his eyes. If you're wanting to trust the blood of the Lamb this morning for the first time, to be washed in the blood, let him see your eyeballs and he'll pray for you and he'll minister to you. Make sure he sees your eyes. You're trusting the blood. You're tired of trying on your own. Paul, you need to look behind you. There may be some behind you over here. There's some. Look at Paul. If you're trusting Jesus, and over in front of Paul, may he see your eyes. Over to the main body of the congregation. Have you looked at Paul? If you're trusting, you're looking not at Paul, but unto Jesus, the precious fountain, the blood. My only hope. Father, in Jesus' name, you know the hearts of every soul. And I pray that when you look at our hearts, you'll see the blood of Jesus. Thanks be to God. Glory. Hallelujah. For your unspeakable gift. Glory be to God in the highest. And now on earth, peace, goodwill toward men because of the blood of the lamb. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. I thank you for the privilege of sharing this time with you. Let's read from Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11. And the setting of this is that John, the baptizer, has been thrown in jail because he took a firm stand against the powers of this world. And he is rotting in a cell. And when you're in jail and things are happening, you often have questions come up in your mind. Verse two. Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Jesus, Are you he that should come, or should we look for another? And Jesus answered and said to them, Go and show John again those things which you do hear and see. Namely, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. And now what I call the forgotten beatitude, nestled over six chapters later, after the other blessings, it says here, and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me. Now, what did he mean by that? Here, John the baptizer is one that Jesus said, there's never been a greater preacher born from women. And surely this is not a rebuke, but John the baptizer is in a prison. And while he's there, his plans obviously were changed. Now he had introduced the Lord Jesus, remember? Behold the Lamb of God who's taking away the sin of the world. The Holy Spirit had come down visibly and he had known surely this is the Messiah. But as he had it all figured out, perhaps in his mind, who knows what he was thinking, but perhaps he was thinking that he would be alongside of the Lord Jesus and with him as he came into the kingdom. And imagine, to his surprise, as he's thrown into jail. And there he is, and he seems to say, what's going on? It's as if he's saying, if you are really the Messiah, then what am I doing here? And the Lord Jesus sends word, go back and remind him what he's seen already, that I really am who I say that I am and tell him this, blessed is the man who is not offended when God changes his plans. That's the way to put that. He's in a prison cell. He had it all worked out. God's been blessing him. He's mighty in the kingdom of God. But suddenly his plans are changed. Now, there is never a time when thanksgiving is not in order. Never for a Christian. And all of us in this room that are born again know that this is true. But it's not always that easy, is it? When things come into our lives that we're not expecting, we are surprised. We are told in everything to give thanks. And not only in everything, but giving thanks for all things. In Ephesians, it says that. And we're told to enter his gates with thanksgiving. We are the sheep. of his pasture. Now, the only time a sheep ever entered his gates was for what? For sacrifice. So we've got to see something here, that no matter what happens to us, we are to worship him. Now, for many people in this room, and myself included, it may not be easy for you to thank God. You may know that you should, but your life may be full of pain. There may be questions. You may have had reversals. You may have been surprised. You may have questions and heartaches over certain things. There seems to be something blocking you and you know that you should rejoice. And down inside there's pressure, maybe even fear, panic maybe. Because you're wondering how in the world can I keep on like it is? Maybe there's financial pressure with your financial situation here in Australia and the English speaking world is feeling it as well. But you cover it over, you see. You don't really let anybody see this. Your plans have been changed. Your life is surprising you. You're just like John the baptizer in this little text we're looking at. Maybe you've said, why can't I be thankful? Lord, what's wrong? My pain is heightened by the fact that I should be rejoicing in God. Well, it's human nature to resist change. and maybe even to fight it, and maybe even to rebel against it. But you know something? For every single one of us, change is ahead. You may change schools, you may change in your health, you may change in your economy. Who knows what will happen, but there is change in our families, in our nations, in our way of looking at things. If you keep living, if you're fortunate enough to keep living on this earth, God has changed in your future. You will have surprises. There's just no way around it and unexpected. The Bible says the Christian life is full of storms. You're either in a storm right now and you're wondering if you'll ever get out or maybe you've just come out of one and you're saying, boy, it's tough. Or maybe you see clouds on the horizon and you say, oh, here it comes. And I know it's coming. And despite that, we have the promise of that famous verse in Romans eight, what some people call the hospital verse. We quote it all the time. It says. In Romans 8, 28, we know that all things are working together for good to them that love God. Now, that's who is working together for good to, not just the casual person, but to a person that loves God and to them that are called according to God's purpose. In other words, they want God's will and God's way in their life. And as I seek him and as I love him, I have the promise, it's all for good. And that's his promise. Now, it's a lot easier to see this with hindsight. I think the best illustration of being able to look back and see how God meant it all for good is a story that I heard in India from a wise old gentleman. He was an old Indian, and he told this story, and I'm going to tell it to you. It's good. And, you know, I've told this story in a lot of places, but it's just too good not to repeat. He told a story about a certain Maharaji. It was a kind of a king-suburb ruler that they had years ago in India. And this Maharaj, he lived in an area where it was very unsafe to travel the roads, actually, because the people would ambush you. They had what they call thugs. They had them there, too. I was kind of worried in Melbourne one night walking around down there. I said, hmm, thugs. I could see them. They like to take everything you have. Well, that's how it was in India. And if you were out alone, they might just ambush you and they would roll you up in a rug. and take you off to their temple after they robbed you and offer you as a sacrifice to one of their pagan gods. This particular Maharaji had a servant who was a wonderful Christian. And this Christian, no matter what happened, would always have this expression. He kept an even keel and he would always say, Oh, master, all for good, all for good. And no matter what happened, a vase could break on the floor and the servant would rush to clean it up and say, all messed up, all for good, all for good. And if his disappointing plans didn't work out, then all messed up, all for good. And one day this Maharaji was in a room and he was whittling with a knife and he slipped. And it cut his thumb completely off. And his thumb was on the floor, blood was everywhere. He had a towel wrapped around his head, hand, grimacing in pain. And the servant walks in just at that time. And the Maharaji's there like this, and the servant goes, Oh, Master, all for good, all for good. And the Maharaji goes, You idiot. Take him away to jail. I never want to see him again. See he'd been getting on his nerves Anyway off to jail with him this stupid servant of mine. I never want to see him again So they took him and threw him down in the dungeon with the rats and you know everything else that's down there and they forgot about him months went by and the Maharajah's wound healed but his thumb was gone. He didn't have a thumb and And so Maharaji was bored and one day said, I'm going hunting. And he went out into the bush and there he was camping away from his men. And in the middle of the night, he was ambushed by thugs. Thugs grabbed him, took his money, rolled him up in a rug and took him to their temple where they were going to offer him as a sacrifice. They got him there and unfurled him, put him on the altar and they had the knife up like this, ready to plunge it into his chest. And all of a sudden they went, You no good for sacrifice. You disgrace. Go home. You have no thumb. You go home. You imperfect. You cannot do for sacrifice. Disgrace. And they beat him and kicked him out of the temple. And he ran back to his palace and he sat there shaken down to his inner person and he said, my servant was right. He was right. Oh no, I've wronged him. How will I ever make it right with him? Go get my servant. They went and got the servant and the servant came in with that dungeon look, you know, scraggy beard and chapped lips and rat bites and stinky old armpits. I mean, everything comes in bent over, huddled, you know, can't stretch out and chapped body from all the water. And he stands before this Maharaji and the Maharaji goes, Oh, servant, I have wronged you. Can you forgive me for wronging you? And he told him the whole story. And he looked at the servant and says, can you forgive me? And the servant went, oh, master, all for good, all for good. And the man said, you are an amazing servant. How could you ever say this? You've been suffering in a dungeon for three months. Oh, master, all for good. You see, if I had not been in dungeon, I would have been with you. And having been with you, they would take me too to temple. And look, master, all for good, all for good. And you see, looking back, we see these things in our life, but in the middle of them, we have to be reminded. And so tonight is a reminder about how to respond when things aren't going like we think we have them going. When they aren't going like we think, we want to have a holy life and we want to please the Lord Jesus, but inside we're falling apart for things that we must do. And it's in James chapter one. If you'll turn there in James chapter one, I want to look at that and see four keys To a thankful heart and tonight if you're here and you're aching You take the word of God and act on it and God will give you a song in your heart Now beginning in James chapter one, beginning in verse two. We'll read down through verse eight and then skip to verse 12. And I'm using the King James version and yours may be slightly different. And when I read the King James, I will as well put in the sense of the literal meaning of some of the words. Verse two, my brethren, count or reckon it all joy when you fall into diverse or different temptations. knowing this, that the testing or trying of your faith is working patience. Some translations say endurance, but let endurance or patience have her perfecting work so that you may be perfect and entire, wanting or lacking nothing. If any of you want or lack wisdom, it's the same word, Let him ask of God that gives to all men liberally, and he will not scold you. He will not upbraid you. It will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavers is just like a wave in the ocean, driven with the wind and tossed For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A two-souled or double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. Verse 12, another blessed. Blessed is the man who endures trial or temptation. For when he is tried, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them who love him. So the first thing that we are to do when we get into a storm or waters that are deeper than our understanding is in verse two. Notice it says, when you fall, not if. When you fall. It says in verse two, count it all joy. That's the first thing. Count it all joy. And this then I would call the first thing is a joyful attitude. A joyful attitude. Now, At first thought, joy and trial seem completely incompatible, don't they? I mean, to our natural way of thinking, it seems absolutely absurd that we'd ever have any joy when we're miserable. But yet it says here that we are to count it all joy when we're in a test. Now over in 1 Peter 4, verse 12, listen to it. Beloved, do not think that it's strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try you as though a strange thing was happening to you, but rejoice. You see, it says strange twice there. And that's how it feels, isn't it? I mean, you might ask me to pray for a friend when cancer strikes them or their child runs away. And you know, that's part of life and I'll pray for that. But when it happens to me, It seems strange. You know what I'm saying? When something invades your circle, your comfort zone, it may appear in your mind and heart, this is strange, God, what is going on here? And then it says, don't think it's strange when it happens, but... Rejoice. That means to count. Now, the word count there is what Kevin would explain to you is an accounting term. It means to put it on the books. It doesn't mean emotional necessarily. It means to put it like in your checkbook. When someone gives you money, you put it in your checkbook. You may or may not have joy about that. It's still there. But you are to count it all joy. and intelligently choose to reckon that this situation, an act of will, is going to bring you to God's presence. Now, that's the first step, to count it all joy. Behind everything that happens to me stands the completely unassailable character of God. His character stands behind what comes my way. And Paul said it this way. He did the same thing. James tells us in Romans 8, 18, he says, I reckon, that's what that word count means, to reckon, same word. I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed in us. God has something he wants to do in us as we're in all of these things and as we count it all joy. Now, behind every trial is God's purpose. And when we respond rightly, this means counting it joy, maturity will take place. You will grow. Maturity has more to do with how we respond to trials than how many we go through. Some of us have to go through trial after trial. The same thing, the song says, take another lap around Mount Sinai. Well, you have to learn it again and again if you don't pass the test. We have to make a rational reckoning and choose, Lord, I'm miserable, but I'm going to Hallelujah. Glory to God in this situation. So my choice is between murmuring or maturity. That's what happens. We've got to learn to live in His grace. Pass the test. I'm coming from the South and a lot of black people live there, precious black people. And there was a very large black lady who was a quite godly woman and she never was flustered, never became shattered by any of her circumstances, which were very hard many times. And one young lady, a Christian godly woman, asked her, her name was Aunt Bessie. She said, Aunt Bessie, How come you always have peace and joy and always seem to praise the Lord no matter what happens? Are there any scripture verses that you claim or anything that you lay hold of that? I could learn as a younger woman you have any scripture and that business is yes, honey. I do Well, tell me what it is. And she says well here it is. Here's my scripture It came to pass and the young girl goes. Yes. Yes. She says that's it, honey It came to pass. It came into my life and soon it's gonna go right on through. And so while it's here, I'm gonna praise God. Hey, that's wisdom. She learned to count it all joy, count it all joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength and that gives you the power to do the others that are coming. So the first thing you've got to do is have a joyful attitude, and that means rationally, as a Christian, intelligently count it all joy. But how can you do that? Well, that's the second thing here, and that's verse 3. It's knowing this, that the testing of your faith is working patience. So the second thing is that I've got to do is realize what is happening to me. When I'm in this test, when I'm in this trial, when my plans are changed, as I count it all joy, I've got to realize, it says, knowing this. I've got to know something. And here's what I've got to know, that the testing of my faith is working something in me. So what it is, the second thing is, an understanding mind. I've got to know what's happening. The first one is a joyful attitude, count it all joy. The second one is, I've got to know what's happening to me, an understanding mind. We must understand this. This life is a locker room for eternity. You know, there was a cricket match on the other day, and those guys were really dressed sharp. I like the way they dress, but you know, they just didn't come out like that. I mean, from the street. There's a locker room in there, and when they go in there and put on those attire, they're dressing for what's coming. I mean, suppose they just dressed and said, hey, we look great now, let's go back out to the street. You know, it's kind of like the womb, isn't it? I mean, the womb is a dressing room for life. And you can look at your hands and say, hey, what are these things? Two twins in the womb saying, what are these things called hands? Oh, that's for a place we're going where you'd be able to handle big things. Come on, man, come on. There's nothing here but all this stuff. You know, the stuff here. And then you say, well, what are those two holes right there? Oh, those are called eyes. I heard them talking. They're eyes. And they're for seeing colors. Colors? What do you mean, colors? I mean, look at this place. It's nice and gray. It's wonderful. A teenager to a teenager saying, hey, look at this thing called spirit. Hey, it's great, isn't it? What's it for? Nothing, man. There's nothing but life. Live it up. Drink it up. Have a great time. You see, you can be stillborn. You can miss out. Life is a dressing room for eternity. And God is building me for eternity. And He has me in His laboratory of truth right now. And you know what He's trying to do? He wants my perspective to be raised to His perspective. He wants me to know this and see it from His standpoint. And He's working character in me. Now, Romans 5 says this same thing. that we're talking about knowing what is happening. And let me just read it. Don't turn there. Just listen to Romans chapter 5. Right after it talks about rejoicing in the access to the throne room, it says in Romans chapter 5 verse 3, not only rejoicing in the glory of God, we glory in tribulations also because we are knowing something. We know that tribulation works patience. The same word as in James. It means endurance. It's the word hupo meno. It means under to remain. Not to try to escape, but to remain under and say, Lord, you have a purpose here. You see, I know that tribulation works patience and patience works experience. And the word there is proven character. And experience works assurance. And assurance makes me so that I'm not ashamed in that. And the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit that God's put in me in that situation because I realize what is happening and I say, God, I've been here before and I've trusted you in this and hallelujah, it's gonna be glorious after it's all said and done. You know what's happening. You see, faith that's never been trusted, excuse me, faith that's never been tested can't be trusted. It can't be trusted, and God won't trust you. In 1 Peter 1, it talks about rejoicing even though we're under manifold heaviness, chapter 1. And listen to verse 7 of chapter 1 of 1 Peter. He says that we're to rejoice so that the trial of our faith the trial being more precious than the trial of gold that's just perishing, though it's tried with fire, that the trial of my faith might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus, whom having not seen, we love. The word for trial there is the Greek word dokime, D-O-K-I-M-E, and it means a refining process for metal. Now, I understand you have gold around here. Is that true? Suppose I went out in the outback, and just before I thirsted to death, I found a large piece of gold, and I was so excited, and I brought it in to Bruce, and I said, look, Bruce, I'm rich, I'm rich. And I had a big ore nugget of gold. It was shiny and beautiful. And he said, not so fast, Yank. And he took me over to the jewelers, to the refining pot place, and they put this big lump of gold in a big clay pot. And they put the Bunsen burner on underneath the heat, and this man is putting my gold in there. I said, isn't it a lovely piece of gold? He's putting it into a dokim process. And as I watched that piece of gold, it suddenly goes... and turns into a golden pond. And as I look at it a little more, all of a sudden, all this garbage comes up. It looks like a burnt piece of paper crinkled across the top. And I say, what is that? Gross! And he says, it's dross, it's garbage, it's rubbish that's been down inside all along, but the heat and the trial process sends it to the surface and becomes obvious. I said, well, can you get rid of it? And he says, sure. And he scrapes it off the surface. And I say, great. Now, give me my goal. Not so fast. Turns the heat up again. Up it comes again. And the same process. And I'm getting rather tired of it after five or six times. But seven times he does this. And finally I say, well, when do you know when you're finished? He says, well, I turn the heat up full blast. And then I get above the gold and look down in it and I can tell when it's finished when I see my reflection without any garbage between. It's like a mirror. And I see myself mirrored in that as I look at it from above. That's exactly what it says right here for us. That when we're in the fiery trial, it's just like that. And God has us in all the nice Bible studies that we've been in, that we're told like here to recount it all joy because we know what's happening. And we go out into some situation and the heat turns up the fiery trial and all of a sudden, Lord, what are you doing? And murmuring and all this garbage comes up and you can't see Jesus in that garbage. And so what happens? God says, I'm going to get rid of it. And so he scrapes it off. He scrapes it off. And I say, I'm glad it's finished. But then he turns the heat up again, teaches me endurance and up it comes again. See, that's what Job said. He said, I know after he has refined me, I will come forth as And that's why Proverbs says in verse 20 chapter 25 verse 4 Take away the dross or the garbage from the silver and there will come forth a vessel all for the finer Proverbs 17 3 the refining pot is for silver and the furnace is for gold but the Lord tests your heart and He equates the two. God puts our heart in the heat in situations that are bigger than we would ever choose or could handle. And it's life in the crucible. That's what it means. In the testing place. Now, the Bible says we have this treasure in what? Earth and vessels. Pure gold. Thy word, O Lord, is very pure. It's like silver in a vessel of earth, it says in the Proverbs, in the Psalms, I mean. God wants head knowledge to become heart experience. And so he allows us to go through many dangers, toils, and snares as we sing in that song. He loves me too much to leave impurities. And you know, in young person's lives, he's trying to test you now and bring these things up. It may be a relationship that brings up the... in your life and God may see it and all of a sudden you see it and what do you got to do? How does he remove it? We confess our sins and he is faithful to scrape it away with his word and forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we can be glad when we're sad. We know what's happening. It takes time for God to make a saint. If he wants to make a squash, he takes two weeks. If he wants to make an oak, he may take a hundred years. If he wants to make a saint, he takes a long time building into that life. We are living stones in the temple of God. Did you know when Solomon made his temple, and he's a picture of what we are, living stones brought together, it says that in Solomon's day, he cut all those stones in the quarry. And in 1 Kings 6 verse 7 it says, When the day came for those stones to be assembled, there was never the sound of a chisel or a hammer heard. It was like a prefab temple. They were already made in the quarry. They measured every piece by the cornerstone. Now who's that a picture of? the Lord Jesus. And so they cut that cornerstone choice and perfect. And Jesus is our cornerstone. And they got in the quarries. If you've been to Israel, they'll take you to Solomon's quarries away from Mount Zion. And they use chisels and saws to rub off the rough edges and get it ready for that day when it was ascending up to Zion and fit in perfectly. You know, God does that with us. We're in the quarry right now. And Jesus in the scriptures revealed to us is the cornerstone. As he was sent, so are we. And God makes sure that there be coming into our life chiselers and people that rub on us. I think that wives have a piece of sandpaper from God. You know, you can be out eating or something and the husband can say something and it's just a little off, you know, and the wife, all she has to do is just go, And she catches your eye just right. And the Lord just works on your heart because, you see, we have heavenly sandpaper to get to one another. And that's God's gift. Rejoice in it and realize what's happening. And poor, poor Miss Townsend. I mean, you got grade six there, you know, living with Bruce. Sorry. It takes time. In London, I heard about a man that was walking along the sidewalk and he saw this man out on the street with a chisel and he was beating on a rock. And it seemed like a strange thing to do in the busy traffic. And he said, what are you doing? And the man said, oh, I'm shaping it down here. And he looked up like this and he pointed and the man looked up and there was this gigantic cathedral tower going straight up and up at the very tippy, tippy, tippy, tippy top. There was a little tiny hole that looked like a pinpoint. And he said, I'm shaping it down here, so it'll fit in up there. That's what God's doing to me and you. He's shaping me down here, so I'll fit in up there. See, heaven is a prepared place for prepared people. And if you want to fit in up there, you're going to have to be shaped down here. And so God allows this to happen. Charles Spurgeon said that some of God's best love letters come with black edged envelopes, but you have to open them in courageous faith. I walked a mile with pleasure. She chattered all the way. And I was none the wiser for all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow. Not a word, said he. But oh, the things I learned from him when sorrow walked with me. Well said by Robert Browning. Count it all joy. That's a joyful attitude. And then realize what is happening. That's an understanding mind. But that's not all. Look at verse four of James chapter one. But let patience or endurance have her perfecting work so that you can be perfect and entire, lacking nothing. Oh, this is the third thing. And this means I would make it paraphrased, cooperate with God. And this would be called a submissive will. A joyful attitude, an understanding mind, a submissive will. You see, here it says here that we are to cooperate with God and realize that God is working. So let's give ourselves to him in such a way. A lot of people don't understand what's going on. And so they run away from trouble every time. First off, when something hard comes, they're just out of there instead of saying, God, show me. that I might see what you're doing in this." And what happens is when trouble comes, they listen to the whisper of the devil that comes and accuses God, God doesn't know that you deserve this. Or they say something like, Does God really care about you? If He really loved you, why would you be so lonely? If He was a great God, like you think, why would He allow this to come? You see, a lot of people blame God for sending trials instead of thanking God for allowing them. Now, this paralyzing attitude of listening to the whisper of Satan is the reason why so many Christians think they're miserable. They're not really, but they think they are. They're thinking they're in a terrible bind, but we've got to learn to cooperate aggressively with God. I'm not talking about passive acceptance, okay? Here it is, God. Okay, it'll be over soon. You grit your teeth and no, no, no, not passive acceptance, but resentful and offended by what God would make you go through, but rather cooperating trust. with my whole heart yielding to Him to trust Him. I've met some people in Australia that have a tough go of it. And some of them are trusting God. Some of them live in constant pain and nobody ever knows it. They're trusting God despite the pain and it's a blessing to see. It's a noble thing because they're trusting God. It's a love choice, you see. A love choice that I give to Him. And let me tell you, love will hold you in the fire. Love will keep you in the fire and you'll trust God. We've got to learn, we've got to learn to quit evaluating things in our Christian life by their capacity to delight us or bless us. Are you going to this prayer meeting? Oh, I don't think so. I don't get much of a blessing out of it. We always pick or choose because of what blesses us or what seems delightful. And that's not what he's wanting. He wants us not to evaluate by their capacity to bless us or make us happy, but rather its capacity to conform me to the image of Christ. Lord, there's a cross here. My God, I don't want to face it. It means my family and I are gonna face trouble, but Lord Jesus Christ I'm gonna count it all joy because I know that you are making me for eternity Not just a few ninety or a hundred years of time soon. I'll be before you and so I'm going to quiet Operate with you. Yes Lord. I choose this and release your power in me. And so we pay attention Alexander McLaren said every every trial or affliction comes with a message from the heart of God Watchman II once said that he learned more about God than anywhere else in affliction. I In fact, he said he learned nothing new about God except in affliction. That's a major statement. I don't know if I could agree with that, but it's a mighty statement. We've got to start standing on his promises and stop sitting on the premises. Stand on God's promises. You see, and if you can't understand, if you just cannot cooperate with God, God says in verse five of James chapter one, If you lack or want wisdom, that's how to apply all the things you know. Wisdom is knowledge experienced. It's the practical side of godliness. Like Solomon says, cut the baby in half. Amazing application of truth. And instantly everybody just said, that's wonderful. If you lack wisdom, the heavenly wisdom from above, ask God that will give it to you. And he won't come and say, You should have known. Why didn't you know that already? You see, if you have a heart that wants to cooperate with God, you say, Lord, I want to have wisdom from you so that I can see through instead of look at. I want to see the rainbow in the cloud. Show me that the gates of heaven are made of pearl. And that says something. It shows how we enter in. It's like an oyster, you see. A pearl is just a grain of sand that got inside an oyster and irritated him to death. and he kept putting part of himself over it. He gave and he gave and he gave. And it became one of the most beautiful pieces that we wear in even the very gates of heaven. If you cannot understand, ask God for wisdom and he will come and give you a, if you look at the light, when you're in the thundercloud, you'll see a rainbow of promise. God will show you what's going on and he'll give you the power to endure. May I say this statement, trials will make you better or they'll make you bitter. I've met some bitter people who resent what God has made them, quote, walk through. And they are terribly rigid and bitter and they maybe come to church out of duty, but there's no joy in their life and they're just angry at everybody and narrow and hard. May I say this to you if you're here, if you have deep bitterness toward God for your life's place, If you don't get up off of what you're down on, you're never gonna get in on what God is up to. You gotta get up off of what you're down on or you're never gonna get in on what God's up to. You're just gonna be out there all bitter. Bitter instead of better. And you'll wonder, what happened? And God will try to talk to you. I remember once that a friend of mine was in the hospital. And he was sick. And some people came to visit him. And they were, you know, God's anointed. And they came and they were going to pray for healing. And I believe in healing. I've seen blind eyes see and eardrums put in where there were no eardrums. I've seen gorders fall off. And I don't write books about it, but I've seen it. I just tell you. And praise God. But that's not the goal. That's just that follows. It follows. Greatest miracle of all is a soul raised to new life in Christ when they trust Jesus. But this man was in bed and some of God's anointed came to see him and said, brother, do you have the faith to be healed? This is good. This is really good. And he looked at them because this is a great man of God. He says, you know, I believe I do have the faith to be healed. I'm just not sure I have the faith to lay here in this bed and trust God through many dangerous toils and snares and trust him with joy in my heart, despite the pain. That's what I need faith for. See, some things are better than healing. One old lady who was in a wheelchair. One man of God said to her, she'd been there for 40 years, she was a great prayer warrior. He said to her, Aunt Betty, let me pray for you. Maybe God will bring you out. You have a great message to teach people. And she looked at him with this look of pity. And she said, oh, brother Vern, the Lord would have healed me 40 years ago if I'd have let him. But then I run around like all these other women. Some things better than healing. She knew God. She was cooperating with God. He will give his best in our worst. A great saint named Samuel Rutherford, when he was dying, the king summoned him to go to prison and he sent word back to the king, tell the king that I'm summoned to a higher court where few such as he are ever privileged to go. And he died. He's the one that said, When I'm in the cellar of affliction, I reach out my hand in the darkness and the king puts a glass of his best wine from that cellar in it. You see, you cooperate with God. You counted all joy. That's a joyful attitude. What's the second? You realize what is happening and understanding mine. We see what the process is that God's doing. And thirdly, I cooperate with God as I go day by day through blessing or blasting, whatever it might be. I'm his and he's mine. But the fourth thing is in James chapter one, it says in verse six, let him ask in faith. The last thing is keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your eyes on Jesus. And that means walk by faith. And this then is a believing heart, a joyful attitude, an understanding mind, a submissive will, and then a believing heart. Do not waver. Don't go back and forth. Don't ask God for knowledge so you can get out of there, but ask him so you can more intelligently cooperate with him and count it all joy and yield. You keep a single eye and you love him and you trust him. Peter also says in first Peter four, 19, listen to this. Let the one that suffers according to God's will for him keep on handing over the keeping of their souls to God, to God, as God is doing a good thing. a faithful creator. God is making me. And if you're in a trial and you're suffering and you're in God's will, then keep on handing your soul over to him and say, God created me that clean heart and do a complete work. Don't spare unto you. It is given not only to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, says Paul in Philippians, but also to suffer for his sake. Oh, that I may know him. Praise God and resurrection power. Amen, brother. But also Fellowship of his suffering and being made conformable to his death. If you testify Jesus in your school, they will crucify you. Do it anyway, because God wants to show them what it's like when you're in his showcase. He loves to put Christians in the showcase. Job said, Oh God, I wish my words were written down, that they were in a book that others might learn. You got it, Job. You got it. They're there for me and for you. Keep your eyes on him. Paul said, he said that our light affliction, look, it's working greater glory. We keep our eyes on the things that are not seen because the things that are not seen are eternal. The things that are seen are temporary. So we keep on walking by faith and not by sight. Be a see througher and not a look at her. Do you know what I'm saying? Look beyond what's happening to you. See through. Say, God, show me right through this to the spiritual meaning. Show me right through to what's happening in my life. I trust your character. Listen, the only bad thing that can ever happen to anybody is to lose your faith in God. That's really the only bad thing. Don't make the mistake of thinking or demanding that you have to understand everything. Love is never proven more than when you trust God without understanding. Love holds you. Love holds you. Faith and love are never revealed more than when you trust Him in the dark. Stay on your knees and get neology, not just theology. He must be our vision and you can trust Him. It's like the little woman who was in New York City. She was a Christian lady, godly, and known in her neighborhood. She lived in a big tenement house. And there were these little brats that lived around her and were always giving her trouble. One day she was extremely hungry, almost starving. And she was in her apartment praying, Oh God, would you send bread? Send bread, send the bread, Lord Jesus. And these little boys were outside listening to her in there. She was loud. And they said, that stupid woman. She thinks God will send her bread. And they pooled their allowance. Let's go play a trick on her. Let's go buy some bread. And they went down to the store and bought some bread and took it outside her door and went... And then they ran away. And they left the bread there in front of the door. And she came to the door and saw the bread and went, oh, praise the Lord! Oh, praise the Lord! And she began to pick up the bread and sing and slam the door and walk back inside. You could hear her in there just praising God. It really got under these guys' skin. They said, that stupid woman, she thinks God sent her that bread. We went out and bought that with our own money. Boy, how stupid can you get? And they went back and went, The little lady came to the door, yes, and then these little boys looked at her and said, lady, you are so dumb. We heard you in there praying, and we went out and got that bread. God didn't send you that bread. We went out with our own money and brought it. And the little lady just smiled at him and said, oh, boys, the devil might have brought it, but God sent it. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. That he might save many lives as it is that day. That God might first in us show a pattern and that we might comfort others with the same comfort that we've been comforted in in all of these things. Trusting God is a choice. Keep your eyes on Jesus. That's the believing heart. I like what Corrie ten Boom, one of my favorite people said. She said before she died, she said about trusting God, looking at Him, she said, look around and be distressed. Look within and get depressed. Look to Jesus and you'll find rest. That's good. She was good. Oh, she was a great lady. God had one son without sin, but he's never had one son without suffering, and he never will have one. There are no accidents for a Christian. God says he will look after us. Now, I'm not just up here telling you this stuff. I'm going to finish with one last story, if I might, brother. When I was first married, I was 30 when I was married, because I was saved when I was 23. It took me seven years to have my mind renewed as to what a woman was. I had not known God's view of a woman before that time. But when I was 30 years old, God sent me a wife, a wonderful, wonderful lady. And you know, I was an only child, and I didn't like being an only child. And I determined that if I was ever married, if the Lord would allow me, I'd have a large family. Well, but you know what the devil said? You can't have children. You know what he always does? He makes you think the worst thing that could happen, the worst situation, and I kind of believe that. And so when my newlywed bride and I discovered Very soon after marriage, I figured we ought to start the family soon because when you're 30, by the time my son's 18, I want to play tennis. I'll be up there saying, serve the ball, son. You know, hurry up before I fall over. You know, I had to go ahead and start the family. Well, she came into my living room and she said, We're going to have a baby. And all of a sudden it's, watch out, watch out, be careful, be careful. You know, I mean, we were just so delirious. We were so happy. Well, we were right in the process of a move to a Christian ministry in Chattanooga, which you know of. And so we moved into this house there and I was supposed to be one of the two teachers there. And what happened was that someone came to me and said, I want to give you a trip to Israel. Now that's something that's pretty nice. And I said, praise God. And we're taking your wife, too. And I was all excited because these people were going to Israel, this group of Christians, and I was going to get to go. And, you know, I thought it out and said, after the little baby comes, you know, our lives will change and we'll have to stay around home. So this is our last chance to really, really go over to Israel together. And I'm going to take my precious wife over there, my pregnant little honey buns, and I'm going to treat her like a queen. And I had it all alliterated out like preachers do. I said, I'm going to get her at Galilee. I'm going to hug her at Hebron. I'm going to kiss her at Carmel. I had it all romantically figured out. I'm serious. I did. And we had it all planned out. I had my luggage alliterated out, you know, what I was going to take and everything. It was great. And suddenly, my plans were changed. I mean, God threw one of his wrenches into it and I knew it was God. I mean, we were so, I felt defrauded. You know, I said, God, I was all pumped. I was ready. Oh, and now, and you know what? I was mad. Now, of course, I couldn't let anybody know I was mad because I was a teacher. You know what I mean? I'm mad on the inside, like some of you are here. God yeah, I don't like being broke or whatever. I don't like being single. I don't like being married whatever it you know something you don't like and I remember the day came for them to go to the airport and I couldn't go and I had God told me to help them take their bags to the airport and you know, I said have a nice trip, you know, like this. And I put them on the plane, and they flew off to New York, and I was kind of keeping up. They're somewhere in New York now, and they're probably leaving, and they're somewhere out over the Atlantic right now. And, you know, they're out over the Atlantic. Well, I was teaching that afternoon on Philippians, how to have joy no matter what. And right in the middle of my message, someone said, Al, come quick, come quick, your wife needs you. And I knew it was important. I said, you'll pray, stop the class, I'm going home. And I ran across this field to where we're living. And as I ran up the stairs, I was praying, I ran back into the bedroom and there my wife was laying across the bed with her eyes looking up, tears streaming out of her eyes like this. And three months along, she was having a miscarriage. And there was a lot of blood. I mean, I'd never seen a miscarriage. I didn't know what was going on. I thought she was dying or something. She was praising God. I went to the front door. I said, would some of you ladies help me? And some ladies came over and they attended to her. And, you know, you know how husbands are that they want to be Mr. I'm in control. And someone says, can we help you? And I said, no, no. I carried her to the car and put her in the back seat with her head on these ladies laps. And someone said, do you want us to drive? We had to go to the hospital. And I said, no, no, I'll drive. You know, you know how it is. Don't you? We're not having these women run the place, you know. Us, we're gonna... I'm gonna do it. And I got into the driver's seat and I put it in reverse. Now, you'd put it in reverse. I don't know. Anyway, but I put it in reverse and I happened to look up in the reverse mirror and I saw my face. And it was not the epitome of joy. It was not blessing. In fact, I felt like I was collapsing on the inside. I remember thinking, God, this is impossible. My wife, what's happening? And it's so hard to watch your wife suffer. You can't do anything about it. Why couldn't it be me? It's her. I can't do anything about it. And I looked in the mirror and I was gray and looked kind of ashen with lines, all these lines. And I said, I said, my. I looked terrible, and I said, Lord, I am asking you these verses. I count it all joy, and I'm looking to you, Lord, for wisdom. Give me the power to glorify you. And you know what? In my spirit, a song was birthed right there down inside of my guts down in here. And you know what? The second I started to sing it, do you know what happened in the back seat? Simultaneously, without a cue, without a prompt, my wife started the same song on the same key and they blended in together. She had done the same thing. And pretty soon everybody was singing like that. And by the time we got to the hospital, I'm telling you, we were in revival. It's crazy. I mean, these people come in carrying a woman, we're having a miscarriage and they're singing praise to God, you know, and we come in there and we're just praising God. I mean, it was insane on a human level. And you know, we went in there and the doctor did the procedure of the DNC that you do after a miscarriage. And I called my wife's mother and told her. And the doctor came out to me. His name was Francis and I won't tell you his last name. He came to me. He said, this is incredible. I have not seen such strength in trial. He said, I want to know about this. You know, I got to lead that medical doctor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And do you know that he left his practice and went to the mission field? All for good. And he told me, he told me, he said, now don't have a baby for a year. Give your wife a rest. Well, I really tried. I really, really did. And, you know, one month later she was pregnant again. And you know what? We had a little baby. And then 17 months later, she is pregnant again. And then she was pregnant again and she is pregnant again. And I said, God, I'm going to change her wife from Mary Madeline to fertile murder. Sorry, I just had to say it. She told me if I ever told anybody that again, she'd kill me. But she's a long way away right now. You have me where you want me. If you send her that tape, I'm dead meat. But all I can say is God is in my circumstances. He's in them. He's in them. And he's in your circumstances, too. And the sooner you count it all joy because you know what's happening and you submit yourselves to God and believe him with all your heart, the sooner He will not seem remote to you anymore. He is not a remote God. He's not far off. He is near you, even in your heart. Count it all joy and realize what's happening. Have you grown bitter or resentful? I'll never forget the morning a woman came forward. She says, my husband died five years ago, and I've been bitter at God ever since. But today I'm coming clean. God, be it unto me according to your word. Deal with that inner resentment because God's goodness still abides. Lay down your sword, stop fighting God and accept your circumstances and look to him for his peace. Forget the things that are behind and press on toward the mark of that prize of God, despite circumstances, walking on high places, following him and trust him. That's what the call is tonight. Holy in all of these things, more than a conqueror. Through him who loves me, he is a faithful God. Great is thy faithfulness. We're gonna sing together a great hymn. And I'm gonna open this altar tonight in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Since this is a Sunday evening service, I wanna open this altar. Now, I'm very aware that it's crowded, and I'm also very aware that Australians are very cautious about public things. You know why? I'll give you a hint. It begins with a P and it ends with an E, and it has a big I in the middle. But tonight, God wants us to humble ourselves, and I'm gonna have us to stand, and I'm gonna open this altar, if I have your permission, brother. Is that okay? in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, for people to come and just take their place here. Yes, kneel at this altar, young person, old person, and take your place and say, God, I release to you my hardness or my bitterness. I want to praise you. It's hard for me, but I want to just by faith, count it all joy. And you want to act on this word tonight. You want to lay down your sword. That's your call tonight to act on this and be freed. by the Lord Jesus Christ who will meet you at the place of humility and obedience. He will do it. I promise you in his name, he will do it. If you'll act on what he has said and join your lives to his will. Well, let's pray. Father, in Jesus name, would you call us to yourself and may we throw out the rocks and the dross and may we count it all joy, no matter what, no matter what. Because you're making us into your character and image May we submit to you and cooperate and fully yield and and let you have your work in us and resolve to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus, author and finisher of faith. How firm a foundation your word is for us. May we run to the rock and stand upon it tonight. Lord, I give you this this open altar. The results are yours. It should be full. I pray that you'll bind the spirit of pride and give it, give it, give people grace to fall on their knees before Jesus and be restored. Be rejoicing in Jesus name. I pray it. Amen.