1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:03,760 It's great to be with you this morning. 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:08,600 When Roger and I were talking several months ago about me fitting 3 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,480 into the series, I got to look at his plans for this series. 4 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:14,800 And I know that you've been working on 1 Corinthians 13. 5 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:16,080 He talked about love. 6 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,320 The last time he's going to talk about purpose, I think the next 7 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:20,800 time that you're together. 8 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:25,520 And this is sort of the perfect topic to talk about in between 9 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,630 the topic of God's sovereignty, which is just a big 10 00:00:29,630 --> 00:00:34,630 word that means that we believe that the Bible teaches that 11 00:00:34,630 --> 00:00:39,910 God is over everything and he works in everything. 12 00:00:40,070 --> 00:00:42,950 And there are a lot of Bible verses that talk about that. 13 00:00:43,190 --> 00:00:48,670 But maybe one of my favorites comes from Paul's letter to the Ephesians 14 00:00:48,670 --> 00:00:53,470 in Ephesians Chapter one, if you've ever studied that book, most 15 00:00:53,470 --> 00:00:55,590 of the first chapter is a prayer. 16 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,720 And in the first prayer in that chapter, which runs all the 17 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,240 way from verse three down to verse 14. 18 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,080 So it's in the middle of a prayer where Paul is giving praise 19 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:08,520 to God. 20 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,280 He says this in him. 21 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,960 And the hymn there is Jesus in Jesus Christ. 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,240 In him we have obtained an inheritance. 23 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:21,880 So he's. 24 00:01:22,490 --> 00:01:25,450 He's saying to these Ephesians Christians, even though the world 25 00:01:26,410 --> 00:01:33,010 may not think that you are very important, God has given you 26 00:01:33,010 --> 00:01:36,410 an inheritance through Jesus Christ. 27 00:01:38,970 --> 00:01:43,930 Christ is the eldest son in the family who inherits the family 28 00:01:43,930 --> 00:01:44,490 fortune. 29 00:01:44,490 --> 00:01:49,770 But you are God's children in Christ, and you inherit with Him. 30 00:01:50,190 --> 00:01:55,630 So he says, in him we have obtained an inheritance having been 31 00:01:55,630 --> 00:02:02,350 predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things 32 00:02:03,470 --> 00:02:11,390 according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were first 33 00:02:11,870 --> 00:02:17,910 to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 34 00:02:18,870 --> 00:02:23,470 And you say, okay, it doesn't surprise me that a Presbyterian came 35 00:02:23,470 --> 00:02:25,190 and read a verse about predestination. 36 00:02:25,750 --> 00:02:27,990 Okay, but that's not what I want to talk about. 37 00:02:28,630 --> 00:02:30,790 That's not the part of the verse I want you to see. 38 00:02:30,790 --> 00:02:33,350 Notice the part of the verse I want you to see comes right after 39 00:02:33,350 --> 00:02:33,670 that. 40 00:02:35,190 --> 00:02:43,550 This is what he calls God, him who works all things according to 41 00:02:43,550 --> 00:02:44,790 the counsel of his will. 42 00:02:45,190 --> 00:02:52,630 That's an amazing name for God, him who works all things according 43 00:02:52,710 --> 00:02:54,310 to the counsel of his will. 44 00:02:54,310 --> 00:03:03,390 In other words, Paul calls God the One who works everything, absolutely 45 00:03:03,390 --> 00:03:08,070 everything, according to his will. 46 00:03:09,450 --> 00:03:13,330 That's an amazingly comprehensive statement, and that 47 00:03:13,330 --> 00:03:16,490 is a statement about God's sovereignty. 48 00:03:16,490 --> 00:03:19,530 And the reason that he's saying it to these Ephesians Christians 49 00:03:19,530 --> 00:03:27,690 is he wants them to believe that God has a purpose for their 50 00:03:27,690 --> 00:03:32,250 lives that cannot be messed up by this world. 51 00:03:32,410 --> 00:03:34,570 A lot of stuff goes wrong in this world. 52 00:03:35,590 --> 00:03:37,830 A lot of hard things happen in this. 53 00:03:38,230 --> 00:03:40,310 I'm sure you like me. 54 00:03:40,630 --> 00:03:46,310 You've been watching, whether it's your phone or the television 55 00:03:46,390 --> 00:03:49,110 news about what's going on in western North Carolina. 56 00:03:51,030 --> 00:03:56,150 All sorts of people's lives have been completely turned upside 57 00:03:56,150 --> 00:04:00,630 down in western North Carolina because of this Storm Helene. 58 00:04:00,630 --> 00:04:05,670 And now we've got Hurricane Milton heading for Florida. 59 00:04:05,910 --> 00:04:09,030 And I have a board member who lives in Tampa. 60 00:04:09,030 --> 00:04:13,270 His home got flooded during Hurricane Helene, and now Milton 61 00:04:13,270 --> 00:04:15,470 is headed for his home again. 62 00:04:15,470 --> 00:04:19,750 There's a lot of stuff, a lot of bad stuff happens in life. 63 00:04:21,270 --> 00:04:25,590 But the Apostle Paul wants the Ephesian Christians and he wants 64 00:04:25,590 --> 00:04:31,480 you and me to be confident that God has a good purpose in our 65 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:38,960 life that cannot fail because he works all things according to 66 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:40,680 the counsel of his will. 67 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,920 So the reason that Paul is writing this is to encourage Christians. 68 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:47,160 It's not to have a theological argument. 69 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:52,640 It's to give Christians a significant encouragement in their 70 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:52,920 lives. 71 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:54,680 God is at work. 72 00:04:55,790 --> 00:04:58,670 Everything he is over everything. 73 00:04:58,990 --> 00:05:00,750 He's working in everything. 74 00:05:00,910 --> 00:05:02,030 He's sovereign. 75 00:05:02,430 --> 00:05:04,310 And that is very good news. 76 00:05:04,310 --> 00:05:06,350 Now, you might have the reaction to that. 77 00:05:06,510 --> 00:05:12,030 Yeah, that's all well and good when things are going nice in my 78 00:05:12,030 --> 00:05:16,910 life, but what about in the hardest places in my life? 79 00:05:17,070 --> 00:05:21,270 I find that really hard to believe that God is over all and 80 00:05:21,270 --> 00:05:25,080 in all that God is sovereign over everything all, especially in 81 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:26,840 the worst parts of my life. 82 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,600 Might be in family relationships. 83 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,480 Some hard stuff can happen in families. 84 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,320 It might be in your vocational dreams. 85 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:42,920 You may have a dream to pursue some particular vocation or career, 86 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,840 and you may get sidetracked in that. 87 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:48,920 It may be in personal relationships with friends. 88 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:52,690 It may be a diagnosis that you've gotten out of the blue. 89 00:05:54,130 --> 00:05:58,530 And you say, you know, it's all well and good to talk about God 90 00:05:58,530 --> 00:06:03,530 being sovereign when things are going well, but how about in 91 00:06:03,530 --> 00:06:04,730 the hard places of life? 92 00:06:04,730 --> 00:06:06,210 And I've got some good news for you. 93 00:06:06,290 --> 00:06:11,730 Interestingly, this truth that I just read from Ephesians 1:11, 94 00:06:11,730 --> 00:06:13,330 but you can find it all over the Bible. 95 00:06:13,330 --> 00:06:17,010 We're going to look at some passages where you find it is usually 96 00:06:17,010 --> 00:06:18,550 mentioned in the Bible when. 97 00:06:18,700 --> 00:06:20,060 When things are not going well. 98 00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:27,060 This truth normally pops up in passages where things are not going 99 00:06:27,060 --> 00:06:28,460 well, where things are hard. 100 00:06:28,620 --> 00:06:32,540 For instance, many of you know the story of Jonah. 101 00:06:32,540 --> 00:06:39,260 Jonah was a Hebrew prophet and he ministered in Israel. 102 00:06:39,980 --> 00:06:45,420 And God had sent him to go to Nineveh, which was a pagan city, 103 00:06:45,420 --> 00:06:46,620 a Gentile city. 104 00:06:46,740 --> 00:06:46,900 And. 105 00:06:47,050 --> 00:06:48,410 And Jonah didn't want to go. 106 00:06:48,970 --> 00:06:53,650 He wanted to preach the word to Israelites, and he didn't want 107 00:06:53,650 --> 00:06:55,250 to get sent to Ninevites. 108 00:06:55,250 --> 00:06:56,570 And so he pouted about it. 109 00:06:56,650 --> 00:06:59,050 And then he decided, I am out of here. 110 00:06:59,050 --> 00:07:02,610 And he got on a boat and he started trying to go to the furthest 111 00:07:02,610 --> 00:07:05,010 place to go away from Nineveh. 112 00:07:05,010 --> 00:07:07,770 And of course, what happened is he got caught in a hurricane, 113 00:07:08,330 --> 00:07:13,130 and he ends up getting thrown over the side of the boat, and he 114 00:07:13,130 --> 00:07:15,730 winds up in the belly of a great fish. 115 00:07:16,290 --> 00:07:20,690 And in the belly of that great fish, not the best moment of Jonah's 116 00:07:20,690 --> 00:07:21,010 life. 117 00:07:22,690 --> 00:07:27,650 That's where he confesses that God is over all and in all. 118 00:07:28,130 --> 00:07:31,570 And by the way, you can read his prayer from the belly of the 119 00:07:31,570 --> 00:07:33,650 fish in Jonah 2. 120 00:07:34,130 --> 00:07:37,490 And when he's in the belly of the fish, he cries out to God for 121 00:07:37,490 --> 00:07:42,440 help because he realizes God's the only one who can help me because 122 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:44,200 I'm not in control of this fish. 123 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:45,440 But God is. 124 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,600 And the last thing that he says in that prayer is salvation 125 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:49,960 is of the Lord. 126 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:55,560 The reason that you can call out to God and say, save me is because 127 00:07:56,359 --> 00:07:58,280 he is over all and in all. 128 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:02,720 And Jonah found that out at a really bad moment in his life when 129 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:07,410 he's crying out to God for help from the belly of a fish. 130 00:08:08,210 --> 00:08:12,530 And it's so interesting that this idea of God being over all and 131 00:08:12,530 --> 00:08:16,970 in all pops up time and time again in the Bible in places where 132 00:08:16,970 --> 00:08:18,290 things are going bad. 133 00:08:19,170 --> 00:08:22,849 So, for instance, many of you know the story of Joseph. 134 00:08:24,050 --> 00:08:31,330 Joseph was one of the sons of Jacob, and his brothers were jealous 135 00:08:31,330 --> 00:08:34,940 of him, and so they hatched a plan to kill him. 136 00:08:35,900 --> 00:08:40,540 But then they decided instead of killing him, we're going to sell 137 00:08:40,540 --> 00:08:41,580 him into slavery. 138 00:08:42,300 --> 00:08:46,820 And so they sold him into slavery, and he ended up living most 139 00:08:46,820 --> 00:08:48,780 of his life in Egypt. 140 00:08:49,900 --> 00:08:54,500 Just imagine yourself, your siblings hate you so bad they want 141 00:08:54,500 --> 00:08:58,620 to murder you, and then they decide instead to sell you into slavery. 142 00:08:59,670 --> 00:09:02,390 And so he goes to Egypt, and you remember the story. 143 00:09:02,390 --> 00:09:06,950 He eventually becomes a very powerful political leader in Egypt 144 00:09:06,950 --> 00:09:12,390 and ends up helping save the Near Eastern world from famine. 145 00:09:12,870 --> 00:09:15,670 And he's reunited with his family again. 146 00:09:15,670 --> 00:09:20,750 And after his dad dies, his brothers think, oh, boy, we're going 147 00:09:20,750 --> 00:09:21,510 to get it now. 148 00:09:22,150 --> 00:09:26,190 Now that Dad's not around, he's going to take his vengeance 149 00:09:26,190 --> 00:09:26,750 on us. 150 00:09:26,910 --> 00:09:30,030 And there's this wonderful conversation between Joseph and his 151 00:09:30,030 --> 00:09:31,790 brothers in Genesis chapter 50. 152 00:09:31,950 --> 00:09:35,710 And in Genesis 50:20, Joseph says this. 153 00:09:36,670 --> 00:09:43,270 You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good, that many people 154 00:09:43,270 --> 00:09:44,470 would be saved alive. 155 00:09:44,470 --> 00:09:47,550 Now that is an amazing perspective. 156 00:09:47,790 --> 00:09:49,470 You know, that man's. 157 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,080 That man's family life got robbed from him, his country got 158 00:09:54,080 --> 00:09:54,920 robbed from him. 159 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:59,280 He had to spend most of his life away from his family, the people 160 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,120 that he knew, and the profession that he was pursuing. 161 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:07,200 And yet he has this profound sense that in the worst thing that 162 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:10,880 happened me in my life when I got sold into slavery and taken to 163 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:15,480 a foreign country, God meant that for good. 164 00:10:16,820 --> 00:10:21,460 And you know, the New Testament version of Genesis 50:20 165 00:10:21,460 --> 00:10:23,140 is Romans 8:28. 166 00:10:24,180 --> 00:10:31,340 God causes all things to work together for good for those who love 167 00:10:31,340 --> 00:10:34,180 him and are called according to his purpose. 168 00:10:35,380 --> 00:10:40,660 It's really Paul thinking about that truth of Genesis 50:20. 169 00:10:40,660 --> 00:10:44,840 And by the way, he's saying it to Christians in, in Rome. 170 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,080 And those Christians in Rome are having a hard time. 171 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:53,360 If you look at Romans chapter 8, things are hard for the Roman 172 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:53,800 Christians. 173 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:55,000 And what is Paul trying to do? 174 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:56,200 He's trying to encourage them. 175 00:10:56,200 --> 00:11:01,600 And so he says, I want you to understand that in all things, God 176 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:07,080 is working for your good, even in things that don't look good. 177 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:08,840 It's very interesting. 178 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:10,760 Paul doesn't say all things are good. 179 00:11:11,710 --> 00:11:14,190 He says God is working in all things. 180 00:11:14,590 --> 00:11:21,150 So God's working even in really bad things in order to do 181 00:11:21,470 --> 00:11:22,430 you good. 182 00:11:22,430 --> 00:11:27,670 And he's saying that to those Roman Christians so that they are 183 00:11:27,670 --> 00:11:28,910 able to trust God. 184 00:11:29,150 --> 00:11:32,910 We've sung twice beautifully today about the love of God. 185 00:11:33,790 --> 00:11:37,310 And the doctrine of the love of God is one of the most comforting 186 00:11:37,390 --> 00:11:39,490 and doctrines in the whole Bible. 187 00:11:39,490 --> 00:11:43,730 That God has loved us with an everlasting love, that he set his 188 00:11:43,730 --> 00:11:46,010 love on us before the foundation of the world. 189 00:11:46,010 --> 00:11:50,130 A very famous theologian was asked the question, how do I know 190 00:11:50,210 --> 00:11:53,010 that God will not stop loving me? 191 00:11:54,290 --> 00:11:57,170 And the theologian answered, because he never started. 192 00:11:59,410 --> 00:12:00,410 Now what does that mean? 193 00:12:00,410 --> 00:12:04,370 In other words, God's love is not something that's bounded by time. 194 00:12:04,450 --> 00:12:06,450 It's something that started before time. 195 00:12:07,170 --> 00:12:09,810 There was never a time when God did not love you. 196 00:12:10,050 --> 00:12:13,490 But let me tell you something even more special about that love. 197 00:12:13,490 --> 00:12:18,330 It's not just a wonderful, timeless love, a love that started 198 00:12:18,330 --> 00:12:19,250 in eternity. 199 00:12:19,250 --> 00:12:20,770 It's a sovereign love. 200 00:12:21,650 --> 00:12:26,370 It's a sovereign love that has good purposes for your life, even 201 00:12:26,450 --> 00:12:27,450 in hard things. 202 00:12:27,450 --> 00:12:33,080 If our confidence in God changes with our circumstances, we 203 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:35,640 will lack confidence in God a lot. 204 00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:40,520 I have a lot of wonderful friends who have gone through hard 205 00:12:40,520 --> 00:12:41,480 things in life. 206 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,840 Some of you may be facing hard things right now. 207 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:50,680 If your confidence in God is based on your circumstances, then 208 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,720 that confidence is going to go up and down, up and down. 209 00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:59,000 But if you believe that God is overall and in all, and he can even 210 00:12:59,000 --> 00:12:59,740 work in. 211 00:12:59,890 --> 00:13:03,930 In hard circumstances, like with Jonah and like with Joseph and 212 00:13:03,930 --> 00:13:08,650 like with the Roman Christians in Romans, chapter eight, then you 213 00:13:08,650 --> 00:13:11,610 can trust God even in really hard places. 214 00:13:11,610 --> 00:13:18,410 And I want to say, in my life, I have been especially helped by 215 00:13:18,410 --> 00:13:23,770 being able to be around and watch Christians who have had to 216 00:13:23,770 --> 00:13:25,090 deal with hard things. 217 00:13:25,870 --> 00:13:32,430 And their trust in God, even in hard things, has encouraged me. 218 00:13:33,550 --> 00:13:36,910 Just a few days ago, I went to visit one of my elders who was in 219 00:13:36,910 --> 00:13:41,150 the hospital just right across the street over at Methodist Rehab. 220 00:13:41,710 --> 00:13:46,030 And he has been battling cancer for a long time now. 221 00:13:46,590 --> 00:13:52,350 And they had to amputate his leg to where the cancer was emanating 222 00:13:52,350 --> 00:13:52,630 from. 223 00:13:52,630 --> 00:13:54,100 They weren't able to get it from. 224 00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:55,930 Finally, they just had to amputate his leg. 225 00:13:55,930 --> 00:13:57,130 And I went to visit him. 226 00:13:57,930 --> 00:14:02,530 And all he wanted to talk about was what a blessing the internship 227 00:14:02,530 --> 00:14:06,490 program was at our church, that it was equipping young people 228 00:14:06,490 --> 00:14:09,650 to go serve the Lord for the rest of their lives in churches and 229 00:14:09,650 --> 00:14:12,330 paraministries and mission field and campuses. 230 00:14:12,330 --> 00:14:13,570 That's what he wanted to talk about. 231 00:14:13,570 --> 00:14:17,170 And I thought to myself, now, if I had just had my leg amputated, 232 00:14:17,170 --> 00:14:20,010 is that what I would have wanted to talk about with a friend 233 00:14:20,010 --> 00:14:20,810 who came to visit? 234 00:14:21,100 --> 00:14:22,700 But it told me something about him. 235 00:14:23,260 --> 00:14:27,980 He trusted God in even a really, really hard. 236 00:14:27,980 --> 00:14:31,340 I'm sure he wouldn't have ever said earlier in life, lord, I hope 237 00:14:31,340 --> 00:14:33,500 one day that I'll have my leg amputated. 238 00:14:35,020 --> 00:14:38,020 But when that happened, he didn't stop trusting the Lord. 239 00:14:38,020 --> 00:14:38,380 Why? 240 00:14:38,460 --> 00:14:43,540 Because he knew that the Lord was over all and in all, and so he 241 00:14:43,540 --> 00:14:48,990 could keep on thinking about other things and trust God even in 242 00:14:48,990 --> 00:14:50,350 that difficult circumstance. 243 00:14:51,950 --> 00:14:54,870 Many years ago, just right across the street in Blair Batson 244 00:14:54,870 --> 00:14:56,750 Children's Hospital, I was with Margaret. 245 00:14:56,750 --> 00:15:02,390 Margaret's little boy had fallen in a pool, and they airlifted 246 00:15:02,390 --> 00:15:04,190 him from Hattiesburg to Jackson. 247 00:15:04,190 --> 00:15:07,590 It's never good when you're on one of those helicopters being airlifted 248 00:15:07,590 --> 00:15:10,030 to the PIC unit at Blair Batson. 249 00:15:10,110 --> 00:15:13,630 Those doctors and nurses in the pediatric intensive care unit, 250 00:15:13,630 --> 00:15:13,950 they. 251 00:15:14,310 --> 00:15:17,670 They see really hard things all the time, and they do amazing 252 00:15:17,990 --> 00:15:18,310 work. 253 00:15:18,310 --> 00:15:21,230 And I was there with Margaret, and I was there with Margaret when 254 00:15:21,230 --> 00:15:21,750 he died. 255 00:15:22,310 --> 00:15:24,990 And we were all gathered around in the room, and Margaret 256 00:15:24,990 --> 00:15:27,750 was holding him in her arms. 257 00:15:27,910 --> 00:15:32,590 And when the machine, you know, the little heartbeat monitor 258 00:15:32,590 --> 00:15:35,030 was going slower and slower. 259 00:15:35,030 --> 00:15:38,630 Boop, boop, boop. 260 00:15:39,270 --> 00:15:40,470 And then the flat line. 261 00:15:41,470 --> 00:15:42,830 And he took his last breath. 262 00:15:42,910 --> 00:15:45,270 And when he did, Margaret looked up at me. 263 00:15:45,270 --> 00:15:48,430 And she said, ligon, can we sing the doxology? 264 00:15:49,950 --> 00:15:53,950 Praise God from whom all blessings flow Praise him all creatures 265 00:15:53,950 --> 00:15:57,870 here below Praise him above ye heavenly hosts Praise Father, Son 266 00:15:57,870 --> 00:15:58,790 and Holy Ghost. 267 00:15:58,790 --> 00:16:00,590 And I really felt like I was on holy ground. 268 00:16:01,710 --> 00:16:06,790 I felt like I do not have any business being in a room with a woman 269 00:16:06,790 --> 00:16:14,600 this godly who can hold her dead little boy in her arms and still 270 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:15,440 trust God. 271 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:17,960 And I felt like I was around Job. 272 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,880 You remember when Job gets the word that his children have died 273 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,000 and his houses have been destroyed? 274 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:26,320 And he says, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. 275 00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:28,040 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 276 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:29,680 And what's the next thing that said? 277 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:32,440 And he fell down and worshiped God. 278 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:33,760 I felt like I was around Job. 279 00:16:34,850 --> 00:16:37,410 And so I felt like, lord, I don't have any business being around 280 00:16:37,570 --> 00:16:39,170 a woman this godly. 281 00:16:39,890 --> 00:16:40,850 Who can do this? 282 00:16:40,850 --> 00:16:43,090 But why could Margaret do that? 283 00:16:44,050 --> 00:16:47,730 Because she believed that God was over all and in all. 284 00:16:49,010 --> 00:16:50,690 And even in that horrible. 285 00:16:50,690 --> 00:16:55,330 We had been praying for two days, Lord, save that boy. 286 00:16:57,170 --> 00:17:00,690 Lord, help him, strengthen him. 287 00:17:01,100 --> 00:17:02,300 Bring him back to us. 288 00:17:02,460 --> 00:17:03,660 Let him grow up. 289 00:17:03,660 --> 00:17:04,900 Let him get married. 290 00:17:04,900 --> 00:17:09,420 Let him have a job and a future for you. 291 00:17:09,420 --> 00:17:11,020 We've been praying like crazy. 292 00:17:11,420 --> 00:17:17,340 But when she got that answer no from the Lord, she still trusted 293 00:17:17,340 --> 00:17:17,740 God. 294 00:17:20,700 --> 00:17:25,940 I remember Diane, and I think I have to go back and check on this. 295 00:17:25,940 --> 00:17:26,300 Roger. 296 00:17:26,300 --> 00:17:29,180 I think Diane's husband's a Belhaven graduate. 297 00:17:29,260 --> 00:17:30,820 I'm going to double check on that afterwards. 298 00:17:31,290 --> 00:17:36,330 But many, many years ago, Diane and her husband and the three 299 00:17:36,330 --> 00:17:39,930 children were on the way back from Memphis on a New Year's Day, 300 00:17:40,410 --> 00:17:42,570 and a car hit them head on. 301 00:17:43,530 --> 00:17:46,170 And Mike was killed immediately. 302 00:17:46,410 --> 00:17:50,970 And their youngest child, Nate, was killed, and everybody in 303 00:17:50,970 --> 00:17:53,570 the car was seriously injured. 304 00:17:53,570 --> 00:17:57,170 And Diane, when she woke up, Mike wasn't around and the children 305 00:17:57,170 --> 00:17:57,770 weren't around. 306 00:17:57,850 --> 00:18:00,730 And she started immediately asking, where's Mike? 307 00:18:00,730 --> 00:18:00,910 Where's. 308 00:18:00,980 --> 00:18:01,500 Where's Nate? 309 00:18:01,500 --> 00:18:02,380 Where's Katharine? 310 00:18:02,380 --> 00:18:03,140 Where's Preston? 311 00:18:03,700 --> 00:18:10,260 And finally the doctors said, diane, Mike didn't make it. 312 00:18:11,700 --> 00:18:16,340 And when they said that to Diane, Diane said the first words 313 00:18:16,340 --> 00:18:17,139 out of her mouth. 314 00:18:17,940 --> 00:18:21,940 The Lord is good in all he does. 315 00:18:23,540 --> 00:18:29,520 Now, I've thought many times over the if that had been me, would 316 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:30,920 I have thought like that? 317 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:33,160 But I'll tell you this about Diane. 318 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:34,480 She trusted the Lord. 319 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,920 She trusted that God was over all and in all. 320 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:41,720 And even in one of the worst moments of her life, she was able 321 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:45,080 to say, the Lord is good in all that he does. 322 00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:49,880 The doctrine of God's sovereignty is a comforting thing 323 00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:55,560 for believers because all of Us in this life are going to go through 324 00:18:56,070 --> 00:18:56,710 hard things. 325 00:18:57,830 --> 00:19:00,630 I'm not sure whether your president has shared with you some 326 00:19:00,630 --> 00:19:01,110 of the things. 327 00:19:01,190 --> 00:19:05,030 I've known your president for 30 years now, and he's gone through 328 00:19:05,030 --> 00:19:05,670 some stuff. 329 00:19:07,830 --> 00:19:10,790 And I suspect that's one reason why he's such a good president 330 00:19:10,790 --> 00:19:14,150 to you and why he would even talk about a topic like this during 331 00:19:14,150 --> 00:19:14,870 chapel. 332 00:19:15,030 --> 00:19:15,430 Right? 333 00:19:15,750 --> 00:19:20,550 Because he wants you to be able to trust God in the hard things 334 00:19:20,710 --> 00:19:21,430 of your life. 335 00:19:22,680 --> 00:19:24,280 And here's the wonderful thing. 336 00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:29,000 We serve a Savior who did not live an easy life. 337 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:35,080 You know, your savior, Jesus, the whole of his life was filled 338 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:37,000 with danger and difficulty. 339 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,720 Even when he was an infant, people were trying to kill him. 340 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:47,320 And you know, he has that famous saying, foxes have holes and 341 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:52,130 the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't 342 00:19:52,130 --> 00:19:54,570 have a place to lay his head. 343 00:19:54,570 --> 00:19:56,450 Your Savior never had a mortgage. 344 00:19:57,650 --> 00:20:00,450 He never had a house to call his own. 345 00:20:00,450 --> 00:20:01,250 That was his. 346 00:20:01,890 --> 00:20:04,210 And yet he trusted God. 347 00:20:05,410 --> 00:20:07,850 And even when he was on the cross, he trusted God. 348 00:20:07,850 --> 00:20:10,450 You know, one of the last things he ever said on the cross 349 00:20:11,250 --> 00:20:17,150 was, father, into your hands, I commend my spirit. 350 00:20:17,230 --> 00:20:18,270 Isn't that amazing? 351 00:20:18,270 --> 00:20:26,270 Even at maybe the worst point ever of human history, when God in 352 00:20:26,270 --> 00:20:31,710 the flesh is on a cross being crucified, he could trust his Father 353 00:20:31,950 --> 00:20:32,950 with his life. 354 00:20:32,950 --> 00:20:35,950 I commend my spirit to you. 355 00:20:36,270 --> 00:20:42,260 Isn't it wonderful that you have a Savior who trusted God when 356 00:20:42,260 --> 00:20:44,260 things were not good in his life? 357 00:20:45,060 --> 00:20:49,540 So that when you trust that Savior, he can show you how to trust 358 00:20:49,540 --> 00:20:52,980 God when things are not going well in your life, I don't know what 359 00:20:52,980 --> 00:20:53,620 you're gonna face. 360 00:20:53,940 --> 00:20:59,940 I hope that there are many happy, fulfilling, beautiful, loving 361 00:21:00,820 --> 00:21:02,100 days ahead of you. 362 00:21:02,100 --> 00:21:05,140 But all of us are gonna face stuff in this life. 363 00:21:05,620 --> 00:21:10,020 Jesus himself said in John 16, in the world you have tribulation. 364 00:21:13,890 --> 00:21:19,770 But because you have a God who is over all and in all, even in the 365 00:21:19,770 --> 00:21:24,290 tribulation, even in the hard things, you can trust him. 366 00:21:24,930 --> 00:21:29,890 And isn't it wonderful that you've got a Savior who shows you 367 00:21:29,970 --> 00:21:32,210 how to trust God in difficulty. 368 00:21:32,930 --> 00:21:35,010 Ephesians 1:11. 369 00:21:35,410 --> 00:21:36,850 Just remember that phrase. 370 00:21:37,620 --> 00:21:44,180 Your God works all things according to the counsel of his will, 371 00:21:44,340 --> 00:21:48,260 and he works all of those things for your good. 372 00:21:49,780 --> 00:21:53,180 I'm gonna pray that you will be able to trust the Lord even in 373 00:21:53,180 --> 00:21:55,780 hard things that he's working for your good. 374 00:21:55,780 --> 00:21:56,500 Let's pray. 375 00:21:56,820 --> 00:22:03,500 Heavenly Father, thank you for the truth that you are, overall and 376 00:22:03,500 --> 00:22:03,900 in all. 377 00:22:03,900 --> 00:22:06,180 And thank you that we get to think about that today. 378 00:22:07,250 --> 00:22:10,970 Thank you for the promises in your word that tell us no matter 379 00:22:10,970 --> 00:22:15,930 how bad things may look, no matter how hard things are in our 380 00:22:15,930 --> 00:22:23,610 life, you're in charge of everything and you have good purposes 381 00:22:23,610 --> 00:22:26,850 for us even in the hard things. 382 00:22:28,210 --> 00:22:35,740 Help us to trust you in those hard places and so encourage other 383 00:22:35,740 --> 00:22:36,140 people. 384 00:22:38,700 --> 00:22:41,580 Keep us close to yourself in those hard things. 385 00:22:42,700 --> 00:22:50,460 Give us the continued strength to believe, even in difficulty, so 386 00:22:50,460 --> 00:22:51,260 that we can live. 387 00:22:51,260 --> 00:22:56,140 For the praise of your glory, we ask this in Jesus name, Amen. 388 00:22:56,940 --> 00:22:57,520 Thank you. 389 00:22:57,670 --> 00:22:57,910 It.