The preaching of God's Word this morning will come from Paul's letter to Philemon. If you'd open in your Bibles once again to that place. If you need the Pew Bible this morning, this will be on page 1,273. Let's call upon the Lord together and ask his blessing. Well, Father in heaven, we come to you this morning as your people, your children, We thank you that you are pleased to instruct us. Indeed, you have told us to come to you for teaching. More than that, you've given us your son, who is our prophet. One who teaches us and instructs us in the way of salvation. The one who is the living word and whose word now we open before us. We thank you for this written word, your scripture, and by it you have revealed yourself, the way of truth and life. You've revealed yourself as a God of grace, a God of mercy, a God of providence. We ask this morning as we continue in our study of Philemon, as we come to this passage, that you would open our hearts to understand and receive this truth. Grant today that we may be comforted, that we may be encouraged, that we may be convicted for our murmuring and complaining, and that we may be comforted and encouraged to trust you, to rest in your care, and not to worry or be afraid. but to rest in your overruling providence. Grant to us this morning, O Lord, a humble and teachable heart, a humble spirit to sit in your presence and to give heed unto your word. Remove from us, we pray, all distractions. Grant to us that we may be able to give our full attention unto your holy word and send your spirit who alone can speak. And we ask it in the name of Christ. Amen. We'll begin reading again this morning in verse 10 of this letter to Philemon. We'll be reading through verse 20. Let's give our attention to the Word of God. I appeal to you for my child Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me. I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. I would have been glad to keep him with me in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel. But I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion, but of your own accord. For this, perhaps, is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a bondservant, but more than a bondservant, as a beloved brother, especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. I, Paul, write this with my own hand. I will repay it to say nothing of your owing me, even your own self. Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ. Amen, thus saith the Lord. Well, we've come, as we have, a few weeks ago now to Paul's appeal, this 11 verses which makes up his advocacy for Onesimus, this runaway slave. And we have learned, as I introduced it a couple of weeks ago, that here in this passage, Paul strategically uses four persuasive arguments to get through to Philemon. First, he used an argument from the perspective of Onesimus. How profitable he had become after his conversion, and how profitable Paul was sure he would now be to Philemon upon his return. He who was useless will now be useful, he says. Then he used an argument from his own perspective, how he was sending Onesimus back because he didn't want to keep him without Philemon's consent. That which is pleasing in service done to us is its voluntary loving nature. And then now in verses 15 and 16, which is before us this morning, he uses an argument from the perspective of God. How in permitting the flight of Onesimus, God had Philemon's interest in view. This third argument turns Philemon's attention to the truth of God's overarching and God's ever-working providence in all human events. Paul wants Philemon to see how God was at work in what has happened with regard to the flight of Onesimus and the injury done to Philemon. And he also wants Philemon to see the good that God has now brought about through this. Not only good for Onesimus, who's been converted, Not only good for Paul who has a dear and a true friend and been blessed by that friendship and with difficulty sends him back, but also good for Philemon as he receives not merely a bondservant now, but a brother. The easiest way to consider these verses this morning is to really walk through them one step at a time because there's a lot here to appreciate. We don't want to miss any of it. So first of all, notice how verse 15 begins. The verse begins with the word for. It's a simple conjunction, a connecting word. This simply means that this third argument, the third out of four arguments, that this third argument is really another reason why Paul set aside his wish to keep Onesimus and instead willed or determined to send him back. so that as soon as Onesimus was free from what was likely his own imprisonment in Rome, Paul determined to send him back. Not just, as he said before, not just because it would have been wrong to keep him without Philemon's consent, but now, as he's saying in this passage, also because God seems to have permitted Onesimus' flight from Philemon in order that Philemon might have him back as more than he had him before, more than a slave, even as a brother in Christ. But now let's come more closely to what Paul says here. The first thing we notice is how charitably Paul speaks about Onesimus' flight from Philemon. Notice the wording he uses. This whole letter has been filled with notice being given to the specific words that Paul has chosen, which could have been said in any number of ways, but the way Paul says it so lovingly, so gently, so thoughtfully and carefully. Notice how Paul speaks about Onesimus' flight. He says, he was parted from you. He could have simply said, he ran away from you, which, as we would say, them's the facts. Would have been just fine to speak of it that way, it would have been true. But while that would have been true, it would have also been a very insensitive and harsh way of putting it. Especially since Onesimus had repented of running away, robbing Philemon. And especially since Onesimus is now voluntarily going back. And also, especially after Paul has spent all this time in the letter trying to speak to Philemon in such loving tones, all he's worked for would have been lost if he would have said, if you will, he ran away from you. So instead of unnecessarily emphasizing the offense itself in the interest of love, which backs this entire letter, and in the interest of grace, with which Christians should speak to one another, words seasoned with grace. Paul speaks euphemistically, doesn't he? Which is to say, he speaks lightly of Onesimus' sin. Not because the sin was small. It wasn't. But because the repentance was great. And shouldn't we take a lesson from this? Here's our first lesson. When a person has repented of his sin, And God has forgiven him, and when we have forgiven him, we shouldn't aggravate his sin by speaking of it in the black and negative tones which it deserves before repentance. Instead, we should speak of it as graciously as possible. What does that mean? It means simply this. We should speak of it in a way that recognizes their repentance and God's forgiveness. Because this is just what God does with us. Take David, given as he is, such a wonderful example in scripture for all the church. David was guilty. He was guilty of the blackest adultery when he took Bathsheba from Uriah and lay with her. And he was guilty of the blackest murder when he framed Uriah's death in an attempt to hide his own adultery. And when Nathan came to him and when Nathan rebuked him, Nathan spoke about this case plainly and painfully. In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan said, You have despised the word of the Lord to do what is evil in his sight. You've struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and you have taken his wife to be your wife, and you have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife. And it was that black tone, that heavy speech, that piercing word that struck the heart of David and that lay him in the dust, broken by guilt and shame. I have sinned before the Lord, he says. But do you remember how euphemistically God spoke of the same thing? After David's repentance and after God's forgiveness. And first Kings 15, when the history is told later after the fact, first Kings 15, verse five, the Lord says of David, David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life. except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. How carefully, how euphemistically, God's not sweeping sin under a carpet. That sin had consequences, as Nathan said it would. That sin was wrong. God doesn't sweep it away. God doesn't deny it. But when God must speak of it, after repentance, after forgiveness, how carefully does he speak? Where would we be, beloved? If God treated us in the same way that we sometimes treat each other, if God dredged up our past sins from the bottom as muck, and if God waved them in our faces in all the dark colors of their original heinousness. If God brought our sins back to remembrance in such a way as if the blood of Christ had never washed them clean, as if we had never been forgiven of them at all, where would we be? Where would we ever find comfort and peace in the love of God? Where would we ever have assurance? Our lives would be filled with doubts that we had ever been forgiven, that we had ever truly repented, that it was really ever well with our souls. When we're calling people to repentance, we need to speak of their sin for what it is. It's sin. It's wrong. It's black. It's ugly. But afterwards, however we speak of it afterwards, we must never forget that it is under the blood of Christ and that God has forgiven this person. By the grace of God, they've been washed. We have confessed our forgiveness of them. Should we then not speak in a way that assures them that we do forgive them? Why should we change our tone as to plant doubt in their minds and hearts that we're still holding a grudge? We've not yet forgiven. Alexander McLaren is so helpful. He put it this way. The harshest, sharpest words are best when callous consciences are to be made to wince. But words that are balm and healing are to be used when men are heartily ashamed of their sins. And so the evil deed of Onesimus, for which Philemon's forgiveness is being asked, is half veiled by Paul in this phrase. He was parted from you. Not to minimize the sin, but to maximize the grace which has covered it. And to call Philemon to do the same, as God has covered it, Philemon. So you must cover it as God has forgiven it. So you must. And does not Jesus say the same thing? How can you withhold forgiveness from anyone when God has forgiven you? There's no comparison between what God has forgiven you. And what someone now has done to you, there's no comparison at all. But there's more behind this phrase. Rather than saying he parted from you, which would have been a euphemism, notice what Paul says. He was parted from you. So that however willfully Onesimus fled from Philemon, Paul is saying that there was another will behind it. Indeed, there was the will of God working behind what Onesimus did. And it's to God's will that Paul is directing Philemon's attention. Behind the evil will, behind the self-centered intention of Onesimus, was the blameless and the good intention of God. Onesimus had robbed his master, he had run away. And for that he was entirely responsible and very much guilty. But God was at work in it. God was overruling it by his infallible and wise providence, such that while God was not the author of Onesimus' sin, God was very much the orderer of it. And while the sin was Onesimus' doing, the flight unto conversion, unto return, was God's doing. It's God who sent him away. It's God who's bringing him back. In other words, Onesimus intended one thing by his flight, but God intended another. Onesimus is to be blamed for the bad in it, but God is to get all the credit and all the glory for the good which came of it. It reminds us, of course, as we said earlier in the service, it reminds us of the way Joseph spoke to his brothers in Genesis 50, verse 20, of their selling him into slavery. As for you, you meant evil against me, and nothing can mitigate that. but God meant it for good. It's also the way Peter, of course, speaks in Acts 2.23 to the Jerusalem sinners who crucified Christ. This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Peter lays both things together, what they did and what God did in it, what they intended and what God accomplished by it. And notice there how blackly Peter speaks of it. You crucified him and you killed him. Peter's seeking to strike the heart and bring them to repentance, which in the grace of God it does. The last thing Onesimus intended by running away from Philemon was running directly into the arms of the Savior. But since that's what God intended by it, and since His providence governs all men's actions and orders all men's action to His own glory, that's exactly what happened. Onesimus ran away and met Paul and met Christ through Paul. Onesimus ran away to be converted. So here then is a second lesson for us, that God not only rules over the sins of men, but he actually overrules them in his infallible accomplishment of his holy will. As we said, nothing, nothing whatsoever can ever mitigate sin. It is evil. It is ugly, it is black, hellish, heinous, dark. It is a transgression of the law of God that must and will be judged. It's sin. And yet, despite what sin is, and despite what the devil and men intend by their sins, God permits sin as a lever in his providence, because he's purposed to sovereignly holily, blamelessly, and perfectly utilize men's sins and even work in them to bring about His holy will. Again, the greatest sin that ever darkened the world was the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And yet Peter says that God not only permitted the men to do it, but Peter says God actually eternally ordained it to be done. because it was by that sinful act of men that He was pleased to bring about the very opposite of what men intended. They meant it for evil, but God meant by it to accomplish His good and perfect will, the greatest good for all the earth. And so it is with all men's sins, and so it is with the sins of the devil himself. God permits them in His universe. He permits them as a part of His eternal decree because He is determined to overrule them for His own glory. and to accomplish by them the very opposite of what their sinful will intends. Which teaches us that by a merciful providence, God infallibly guides his people in the course that we are on and to the ends which he has chosen for them using all our wise decisions, all our foolish decisions, and yes, even all our sins to bring about his eternal decree without fail or without fault. That is the doctrine of God's providence. Now, we must say, however, that while this is the manner of God's providence, this is not the manner of our lives, is it? Just because God is able and pleased to bring good out of evil by his providence does not mean in any way whatsoever that we may do evil, the good may come. What God is pleased to do, what God is able to do is one thing. What we are commanded to do is another. We are commanded to do righteous, righteousness and not sin. We cannot sin without sinning and thereby incurring guilt. We cannot bring good out of evil. But God can wholly govern our sins without sinning. And God can wisely utilize sin as a means to His righteous end, which means sin is never, ever justified. But God is justified in His use of it by the good end which He makes of it. And this leads us directly to a fourth point. Paul says that God overruled Onesimus' sin, his flight. to bring it to a good end. So what is this good end? What did God do? What's the good that Paul is arguing here? Well, there's two things. The first note of good is seen in the contrast Paul draws between how little Onesimus was gone and how long Philemon now has him back. Paul says he was gone for a while in order that Philemon might have him back forever. The word translated into for a while is actually the word for an hour, one hour. So the point Paul is making is very clear then. Paul is saying whatever Philemon's loss, however long Onesimus was gone, however much money he stole, however much it injured Philemon and his business, it was but an hour compared with the glorious good God has brought out of it in bringing him back in a relationship that will now last forever. Philemon's loss was real, his pain was real, his injury was real, but it was nothing compared to what God had given him now in return for that loss. It was a temporal loss, but God brought back eternal gains. His loss of Onesimus was but for an hour, and it simply cannot be compared with the gain of having him back forever. And that's just part of the good that God intended. There's the second thing that Paul notes, and that is in the contrast that Paul makes between having Onesimus back as a bondservant and having Onesimus back as a Christian brother. It'd be nice enough, wouldn't it? For Onesimus to be returned willingly and voluntarily to put his neck back under the yoke and to work as a slave. That'd be nice enough. But Paul points out that God was pleased to accomplish much more by Onesimus' flight than what has happened. Onesimus left and God has brought him back better. God was pleased to make the slave a brother. Not to keep him from the yoke. He expects to go back under the yoke. But rather in order that the relationship between Philemon and Onesimus might be more and better than it ever was. Than it ever could have been. Onesimus had to leave in order to be converted. if we bring the two ends together. So whatever happens with Onesimus upon his return, the Lord has made this slave a brother. And the important thing is this, whatever Philemon does with him, because he's free to do with him what he will, whatever Philemon chooses to do with Onesimus, he will have now this fact to guide him. Onesimus is a brother in the Lord. And that's going to have an impact, isn't it, on his decision? And as I said last week, it's by these very words in verse 16 that Paul plants the seeds which eventually abolish slavery. The slave, Paul says here very clearly, is a brother to his master. Both are on an equal plane as human beings. All men are created equal by God. No one is less or greater than another. And added to this in the same verse is another profound truth when Paul says that in the Lord, the master, the slave, and even the apostle himself are all brothers. Another equalizer by which Paul drives a knife into the heart. of class distinctions and ranks by showing that the rich and the poor alike belong to the same church, the rich and the poor alike are united to the same Lord, they share a common loaf and a common cup at his one table. So that there's a brotherhood, Paul points out, there's a brotherhood that all men share in the flesh as men. Slavery is therefore wrong. But there's also a brotherhood that all believers share in the Lord as brethren. And therefore, ecclesiastical hierarchy is also wrong. And it's with these truths in play that both slavery and that ecclesiastical hierarchy are drained of life in the Lord's providence and timing. But that aside, the lesson we learned from verse 16 is this, that not only is God ever at work overruling the actions of all men to his glory, but he's also ever at work ordering the actions of all men for the good of his people. He mercifully overrules the evils committed against us. He mercifully overrules the sins committed by us to bring about the good He intends for us, which is exactly what's happened with Onesimus and Paul. There's one more thing to point out here, and that is Paul's wise use of the word perhaps. If there's one thing we can be sure of, it's that we can't be sure of our interpretation of the ways of God's providence. The ways of God are mysterious. and the ultimate purpose behind God's will and God's actions are simply out of view. They are the secret things of Deuteronomy 29, 29 that belong to the Lord. So that God often allows us as his people no more than a humble perhaps when we try to discern what he's up to in the many vicissitudes and alterations in our lives. So that for all the reasons that we can give on why this door was closed and that door was opened, or why others suffered a heavy trial and we were spared, or why we suffered a blow and others did not, for all the reasons we can figure which might be behind it, all we can ever say is, perhaps this, perhaps that. We cannot ever speak with infallible certainty as to what God's ultimate purpose is behind the twist and the turns of life. All we can say is what we think it is. And so while Paul has no doubt about the doctrine of God's overruling providence, God overrules the actions and the sins of all men. And while Paul has no doubt about God working for good, the doctrine of God's providence, that he works all things for his glory and the good of his church, despite having no doubts about those two theological truths. Yet Paul is careful to say, as he writes this letter to Philemon in his application of those truths to the case of Onesimus, Paul is careful to say, perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while. Now this word perhaps is probably one of the hardest words for some Christians to say. Because we struggle to live with the uncertainty of not knowing what God is up to in our lives. We want to know why. And also because we sometimes feel embarrassed. Not having a definite answer when someone asks, why is God doing what he's doing in your life? Why did that happen? We want an answer and sometimes we don't have an answer and that's hard. But truth to tell, this uncertainty is a beautiful thing to the people of God. This perhaps is a blessed thing. While it confesses on the one hand our ignorance of God's ultimate purpose, we simply don't know. It also confesses our dependence and our trust in the wisdom and the goodness of God's purpose and ordering of all events. So while we may not know what his ultimate purpose is, we know his purpose is good. And that's what we mean when we say, I don't know, perhaps, maybe. So that rather than this uncertainty with which we're faced, rather than it leading a Christian to despair because he doesn't know the answer, it leads him to rejoice. Because God knows the answer. We don't need to know. If God knows, it is enough for us. You see, the person who confidently interprets God's providence as meaning this or that, Not only culpably puts God in a box such that it can't mean anything else, but he also foolishly backs himself into a corner. Where's he going to go when it doesn't mean what he thought it meant? Now what's he going to do? Is God not in it since it went that way? But the person who modestly interprets God's providence, as Paul does here with a perhaps, not only honors God as being able to do far more than he could imagine in his own mind, But he also encourages himself to look in all directions and to wait for his help from all points of the compass. And this is the beauty behind this uncertainty. The beauty then is this. While the certainty of the rash man rots on the vine, the perhaps of the Christian never dies. Why? Because when one door is closed, God can simply open another, can't he? He knows, in fact, that God will open another, because God is good, and God is leading, and God is caring for me. He's promised. He will take care of me, and He will provide. He will meet my needs. God will not leave me destitute. He said He would not leave me as an orphan. He will provide for me. And so the Christian, the man who says, perhaps, here is a great hope and a certainty. When one door is closed, he knows God will open another, a better one, in fact. Isn't that just it? God will give us what we ask for or better, never worse. Why? Because He's already shown His love to us. And also, when God has shut off the east wing, as it were, What does the Christian know? The Christian knows if the east wing is closed, he can look for his deliverance from the north, the south, the west, from all other directions, because from one direction or another, his deliverance will come. That he knows. He doesn't doubt that as Paul didn't doubt it. He knows. In other words, the Christian's perhaps is an undying hope. Because it leaves God to be God and make all the decisions. And it waits upon God to do as He pleases. He knows best. And it knows God to be doing good at every turn, no matter where the road leads, no matter how many twists and turns may be on it. He knows that God is doing good. So the behind the Christians, perhaps, is actually the greatest certainty of all. Why? Because it's not a certainty which rests upon my interpretation of God's providence. It's a certainty that rest upon the character of my God of Providence. That is a world of difference. We know our God to be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know him, as the psalmist says, to be good. And the God who is good does all good and only good all the time for all this people. And so when Paul says to Philemon, perhaps this is why, Paul teaches us that while we think we know what use God may be making of this or that event in our lives, we can't know for sure. And yet this we do know, that God is working for our good, and that God is working for His glory, so that we can have comfort, we can have joy, we can have peace in all circumstances, whatever happens with us, it can be well with our soul. Because our confidence rests not in our figuring out what he's doing. Our confidence rests in his character, that he is doing good. Let me close this morning with a few inferences from the truths gathered here with regard to God's providence. I'll lay out five inferences for you, helping us apply what's here. First of all, if God is able to bring good out of evil, then we have no reason to fear the injuries of men or the evils that the devil himself may do us. Whatever it is, God will bring it to a good end. Is this not why David said in the psalm, and he said so confidently, the Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? I have nothing to be afraid of. Whatever it is, my God will bring it to good. Whatever God allows, no evil can befall us, but it runs through his hands first. And no evil will befall us, but what he is pleased to turn to our good, so that whatever evil we face, none of it can in any way hurt or hinder our salvation, but all of it instead shall further our salvation, shall improve our salvation, shall carry us along until we are made fit for heaven. Daniel Dyke captured it so well when he put it this way. God has an oar in the enemy's boat and he is able with a single stroke to turn what they mean for our harm into a blessing for our help. What a great picture. Let the enemy do what he will. If it be man or the devil himself, all of hell, God has an oar in that boat. And whatever they intend, God intends one thing. God intends what he intends and his will will be accomplished. Secondly, if God turns all of our temporal losses into eternal gains, then consider how we should respond to our trials. All your sufferings for Christ, however long they are, however hard they are, they are but small in comparison to the gain that God is bringing out of it. As Paul said to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 4, this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. Paul says you cannot compare what you're suffering to what God is storing up for you. You cannot prepare the good that God is working by this suffering. You just, there's no comparison between the two. And therefore, what is every trial? What is every struggle but a call for patience in adversity, a call for contentment in every state, because God will make up all our losses in eternal coin. And in the meantime, all the sufferings that we endure will prove to be the means of our growth and grace. God has brought us our trial to make us better. not to hurt or harm, but to help and strengthen, to grow. And thirdly, therefore, if God, if our God is a God of infallible providence, then consider how we should look at all of the events of our lives. Every event has a purpose. Every event, whether trivial or great, whether small or large, everything that happens in our lives is ordained by God because it has a good purpose. Whether we can trace that purpose or not doesn't matter. God can trace it. And whatever God brings, whatever God permits, whatever God ordains has a glorious and good end. That's His promise. He cannot do otherwise for His church. So whatever has happened, it has a good end. It is well, as the Lady and King said. Just think of what that can do. Just think of what it can do when we get our hearts and minds around that truth. How it can put an end to all murmuring, all complaining, all discontent, all fear. All of that can be nipped in the bud. And think also then. of how getting our minds and hearts around that truth can bolster faith, can bolster our trust, our confidence, our hope. We have an undying hope because we have a promising and a good God who does not fail. Whatever happens, however confusing, however apparently chaotic, however apparently disastrous God never loses control. Your God never misses His mark. He never fails. He never disappoints. He is up to good, all good, only good in all of your life. He's the God of your providence. And fourthly, if God alone sees the end from the beginning, and if God alone is at the helm to bring that end about, then consider the wisdom of saying perhaps. when we're faced with changes in our journey. The Apostle Paul saw as far as any man into the purposes of God, and yet when he would interpret God's purpose with respect to the life of Onesimus, he reverently begins his word to Philemon with, perhaps. We can guess that such and such an event was permitted for such and such a purpose, which we know is agreeable to the attributes and the character of God. We know such and such a purpose would be a good purpose. So we can guess that that's God's purpose in this event, in this happening. But it is foolish for us to speak as though there were not any possible alternative, as if there were no possibility of a better idea or a better purpose than the one our finite minds came up with. Remember, we're interpreting infinite providence and an infinite glorious plan by our finite minds. It is foolish to speak in such a way as there can't possibly be another purpose, another intention. When the entire tapestry of God's providence in our lives is finally seen, we will all be gladly surprised that God knew better than we did and that God did better than we thought. And then finally, if God has a purpose for all things and if God sits safely at the helm in all circumstances, out of the reach of all evil, then we should be ashamed. Of the many times we looked at our circumstances and said things like, no good can ever come of this. I will never be thankful for this. There is no more reason to hope. There's nothing to be happy about. I am never, ever, ever going to recover from this. That's just not true. It's just not true. Good always comes of it. Because we are God's people for whom All things work together for good. There is always reason for hope because our loving and wise God is on the throne as our Father, who for His love for our Savior has promised to do us good all our days and whose promises cannot fail. Whatever we've lost, we have never lost Christ. And the Word of God says to have Christ is to have all. This is the rich man. The man who has Jesus, his life is but a vapor. Our losses here may be great and they may be hard to bear. But as the people of God, saved by his grace, we have never lost Christ and we never shall. There is always reason for hope. And despite how hard it is in the midst of our struggles and sufferings and losses and crosses, The day always comes. Sooner or later, the day always comes in the life of every child of God when we see God's wisdom most clearly and we look back and we humbly say with David, it was good that I was afflicted. It was good. God knew exactly what he was doing when he laid that cross on my back. That's the best thing that ever happened to me. God taught me, God humbled me, God grew me. A change took place in my life right there. It was good. And when we stop looking at our circumstances for reasons to be happy, and instead we lift our eyes and our hearts to look to our Savior, we'll find ourselves able to sing in the storm. We'll find ourselves able to sleep in the midst of the chaos, able to rejoice under the cross, because Christ is our peace. Christ is our strength. Christ is our joy. We are faulty at this, aren't we? We so often want to find all our happiness in our circumstances. And if our circumstances don't change, we refuse to be happy. And we refuse to be happy until our circumstances match what we think happiness equals. If that's our action, if that's our heart, you can guarantee a lot of crosses. Why? Because God's got to get rid of that. God's going to graciously work in your life through your trials to humble you and to bring you to the point to where you stop looking to your circumstances for peace and joy and strength and happiness. And you finally learn that you have to look beyond those things and above those things to Christ. And God loves us so much that he wants us to know his son so well and treasure his son so much that he will help us be brought to that place of vision and understanding. And it is by trials that we learn that. It's by God taking away happy circumstances by their appearance. And putting us into unhappy circumstances by appearance. To finally teach us where our happiness really is. It was never in our riches. It was never in our possessions. It was never in our health. It was never in our home. It was never in our family members. It was always in Jesus, wasn't it? That's an important lesson. And we don't go to heaven without learning it. And so God is gracious to teach it to us. He teaches it to us early, and He teaches it to us well. But in so many things like this, we can learn it the easy way or the hard way. And God would call us to learn it the easy way, which is to trust His Word. To trust Him, to submit to Him, to wait upon Him, and to look to Him, and to ever look to Christ, whom He puts before us, to be believed upon and lived by. And so, beloved, We have a God of providence, a God who cares for us with an infinite wisdom, with an impeccable governance, with an inviolable sovereignty, and an unfailing love. Knowing that as we do, let us boldly trust Him. Let us patiently wait upon Him. Let us believingly praise Him even before we see it. Because we live by faith, don't we? And faith is the evidence of things not seen. We don't live by sight. We live by faith and we praise our God for what he's yet going to do. We praise him for what he has promised to do. And how can we praise him? How are we sure that he'll actually do it? Because our God is good. His character. His character is the foundation of our hope. And so we wait. And if we must, we die in faith. And then, faith becomes reality, doesn't it? Our God will never fail. He tells us in Hosea, the vision will come. Wait for it. And if it doesn't come here, it'll come there, hereafter. And how much more better will it be at that point then? We will not be disappointed by our God, ever. Amen. Let's give thanks to Him. Gracious and Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning that you are our God, and you are the God of our providence, that there is not another power seated in some other place which rules and governs the affairs of our lives, nor evil men, nor the devil himself, but it is you, the one true and living God, the God of truth, the God of hope, the God of grace, the God of wisdom, the God who is righteous and true, The God of the covenant, the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is you who are seated upon the throne. It is you who are the God of our providence. And your will is never thwarted. It can never, oh, Lord, be resisted, challenged, changed. We thank you, Father. For this truth, and we pray that this truth will be applied to our lives today. You would bring this truth home. into our hearts in a way that would comfort us, encourage us, convict us of our murmuring, our complaining, our unbelief, and that would strengthen and bolster our faith and trust. May we not doubt, even in the midst of the greatest of storms, may we trust and hope and praise. For you are good and you do good, and you will never change. The same yesterday, today, and forever. Our anchor is in a sure place, our faith O Lord, is upon Christ a certain hope. We thank you that you have fixed our souls upon a nail that has been fastened and cannot be pulled. We pray today for great encouragement to be given to your people. Our trials are many. Each of us is facing a trial today, a hardship, a cross being carried. Each of us, O Lord, needs this comfort. May it be brought by your Spirit to our hearts to great effect and to your praise. In Jesus' name, amen.