Take Heart, Afflicted Saints of God Most High...

“Blessed be the LORD: for He hath shewed me His marvellous kindness in a strong city.  For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before Thine eyes: nevertheless Thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto Thee.  

O love the LORD, all ye His saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.  Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.” -Psalm 31:21-24 [KJV]

 

-------O-------


Great Encouragement in Christ
JESUS unto His Afflicted Saints

  

1.  Every trial is according to the will of God.  Nothing happens by accident.  Satan could do nothing to Job except by the divine will.  Job did not attribute his troubles to Satan, but to the Lord.  “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).

2.  Every trial is meted out by our all-wise heavenly Father.  He closely monitors the furnace of affliction lest one of His children be consumed.
3.  Every trial is intended to wean us from this world and make us long for glory.  The Lord will not allow His people to be absolutely comfortable while we are in this sinful world.
4.  Every trial is good because it drives us to the throne of grace in prayer.  That which leads us to cast ourselves upon the mercy of God is truly beneficial.
5.  Every trial is sent that we might learn patience.  “Tribulation worketh patience” (Romans 5:3).  When we are upheld by the grace of God in the midst of a trial, patience is learned.  How can patience be strengthened, however, unless it is exercised through more trials?
6.  Every trial is another opportunity to glorify God and manifest to our family and friends that we do trust Him, “Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11).
7.  Every trial is a time of close fellowship with Him Who is always with us.  What a joy for Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to have the presence of the Son of Man with them in the fiery furnace.  Had they not been cast into the flames, they would never have had that delightful experience.


8.  Every trial is a time to remember how much the blessed Savior suffered for us.  As far as we are concerned, “there hath no temptation taken (laid hold of-) you but such as is common to man” (I Corinthians 10:13).  But that which our Lord suffered was unique to Him. 

He bore the very fulness of divine wrath in order to save us from our sins.  In reality, therefore, our sufferings are “light afflictions,” not heavy, as was His.  Let us patiently endure whatever trial we are sent and so follow in the steps of our Savior, the perfect Example (I Peter 2:21).                        

                                                                                    -preacher Jim Byrd of Thirteenth Street Baptist church located in Ashland, Kentucky USA

 

Sermon Audio website for Gospel messages: https://www.sermonaudio.com/broadcasters/13thstbaptist/

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Putrid Cup of Tolerance: When Evil Poses as Progress

"Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: He preserveth the souls of His saints; He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked." -Psalm 97:10 [KJV] "Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil." Thomas Mann's chilling words pierce through the fog of modern moral relativism like a shard of ice. It's a warning that echoes through the blood-soaked pages of history, a truth we ignore at our peril. The Seduction of False Neutrality We live in an age where tolerance is held up as the supreme virtue, the golden idol before which we must all bow. We're told to accept everything, question nothing, and embrace a faux-unity that sacrifices truth on the altar of political correctness. But what happens when this tolerance becomes a blindfold, obscuring the stark reality of evil lurking in our midst? Like a ravenous wolf, evil doesn't care for our carefully crafted social constructs. It doesn't respect boundaries, it doesn't play fair, and it ce...
Read more

LORD JESUS, Be Merciful...

" LORD, be merciful to me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee." -Psalm 41:4 [KJV] Is this the language of the man after God’s own heart? Was David a saint when he uttered it? Yes, he was a holy man of God. This confession and prayer shew it. His heart was not hardened through the deceitfulness of sin, nor blinded by self-righteous pride, so as to say, “I have no sin.”   Self-righteous hearts cannot away with this, that all the Lord’s saints are yet in themselves miserable sinners; that they daily see need to confess this; and to sue for mercy and healing from the Lord. Here is a confession, a plea, and a prayer.  (1st.) A confession, “I have sinned against Thee.” Thus we must come and confess to the Lord to-day, to-morrow, and every day, till the sun of life sets. Sense of sin, whether fresh contracted, or long since committed, abides with us. It wounds and pains a gracious soul. Here grace discovers itself. That soul waits not for time to efface the m...
Read more

Great Encouragement in Christ JESUS ~ 19 October, 2025 A.D.

"Behold, he prayeth!"   -Acts 9:11 [KJV] In many trades, it is customary to shew samples or patterns. By these men judge of the goodness or quality of the whole. St. Paul sets himself forth as a sample, or pattern, of the free, distinguishing, sovereign, unmerited grace of God, that we should judge of its nature by its efficacy upon him. “I obtained mercy, for this cause, that in me first   (-a first rate sinner) Jesus Christ may shew forth His all long suffering, for a pattern to them who should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting”   (I Timothy 1:16.) Thou hast seen this pattern of free grace. What dost thou think of it?  The whole is alike with the pattern. It cometh alike upon elect sinners. It finds no more prerequisites, fitness, qualifications, or conditions in any, than it did in St. Paul. Whenever it takes place upon any, it produceth the same effects as it did in him. Grace and mercy from Jesus, makes Saul pray to Jesus. There is the ...
Read more