this week's sermon
IN THE TEXT, I am speaking to you these days What True Christians Have In Hard Times. I Kings 19.11b-13a. In today's Sermon, it is my intention to show that in hard times, True Christians know what THE LORD is in. In this consideration, there are two things. I. In the Text, the Prophet knew what THE LORD was in. II. The rest of the Scripture shows that True Christians know what THE LORD is in.
-----I. In the Text, the Prophet knew what THE LORD was in. There are two things the Prophet knew THE LORD was in. The first is Mount Sinai. In the Chapter, as soon as the queen threatened to put the Prophet to death, the first thing the Prophet did was resort to Mount Sinai. Verse 3 says that when the tidings of the queen's death-threat reached the Prophet, he did not waste time. The Verse says: “When he saw that, he arose, and went for his life.” He knew exactly where to go. He went to Mount Sinai. Once the Prophet reached Mount Sinai, as THE LORD specially drew near to him, the Prophet knew that THE LORD spoke through the “still small Voice.” Upon coming to Mount Sinai, while he took time with THE LORD there, the Prophet knew that THE LORD did not speak through the wind, the earthquake, and the fire. But when the Voice spoke, the Prophet knew this was THE LORD'S Voice. This is why he heard intently. He heard respectfully. He did what the Voice said.
-----Before I advance to the second main head of my Sermon, I have a question for you. Question. Do you know what THE LORD is in? In today's Sermon, I just showed that the Prophet knew what THE LORD was in. In the Chapter, this knowledge helped the Prophet tremendously. It was one of the greatest things he had going for him. He may have been in a hard time. But he knew what THE LORD was in. This is what brought him out of the darkness. This is what brought him into the Light. For consider. If he had not fled to Mount Sinai, he would not have heard the “still small Voice.” If he had not heard the “still small Voice,” he would not have known what to do in his hard time. So that if the Prophet did not know what THE LORD was in, this Story would not have gone so well. I wonder, do you know what THE LORD is in during your hard times? How you approach THE LORD in hard times is important. In hard times, the soul is concerned. The soul is fearful. Unless there is care, the soul will try almost anything. Yet the best way is to come to THE LORD in the Way that He said.
-----II. Just as in the Text the Prophet knew in his hard time what THE LORD was in, just so in the rest of Scripture True Christians know in their hard times what THE LORD is in. First: True Christians know that THE LORD is in the Scripture. Ephesians 6.17 says the Scripture came from THE SPIRIT. Colossians 3.16 says the Scripture came from JESUS. Hebrews 4.12 says the Scripture came from GOD. Therefore since the Scripture is the Work of THE ENTIRE TRINITY, Christians do not leave the Words of Scripture in the Church or in “Sunday School.” They believe them. They take them with them. In hard times, they act on them. Second: True Christians know that THE LORD is in JESUS. II Corinthians 5.19 says that when JESUS came into the world, “God was in Christ.” CHRIST brought GOD. Which speaks that if you would seek THE LORD, He is found in JESUS. This cannot be said of any king, pope, priest, virgin, prophet, or apostle. This is what Christians know. This is why in all their dealings with THE LORD, they go through JESUS. Third: True Christians know that THE LORD is in the Preaching of the Scripture. It is not uncommon these days that the world despises the Preaching of the Scripture. I Corinthians 1.21 says the world often looks on this Preaching as “foolishness.” Sometimes, some professing Christians themselves slight the Preaching of Scripture. They bring it down as a small thing. They seek to THE LORD through other ways. But godly Christians know that THE LORD is in the Preaching of Scripture. This preaching is in a class by itself. There is no other aspect of the Worship of GOD that is like it. It is the peculiar means by which THE LORD does His Work in the soul. I Corinthians 1.18 says: “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the Power of God.” Fourth: True Christians know that THE LORD is in a Scriptural Church Service. A Scriptural Church Service is a dear place. It is the place where THE LORD meets with people in this world. In the days of the Old Testament, before the time of JESUS, in Exodus 25.22, THE LORD said of these Assemblies: “There I will meet with thee.” In these days of the New Testament, since the time of JESUS, in Matthew 18.20, JESUS gave a grander Word. JESUS said: “Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.”
-----From today's Sermon, there are Three Instructions. 1. The First Instruction is how doubly dark are hard times when you do not know what THE LORD is in. Hard times are dark, first, because they are hard times. They bring clouds, concerns, and cares. But hard times are doubly dark when you do not know what THE LORD is in. For then you remain in the darkness. You do not know the Way into the Light. For a brief season, Job fell into this fit. In Job 23.3, when Job was in the thick of his hard times, he said of THE LORD: “Oh that I knew where I might find Him! That I might come even to His seat!” 2. The Second Instruction: There is no need to go through hard times and not know what THE LORD is in. In today's Sermon, I showed that in his hard times, the Prophet knew what THE LORD was in. He knew where to go. He knew what to do. This is what carried him through. In the rest of Scripture, I showed that True Christians know what THE LORD is in during hard times too. Therefore there is no need to go through hard times and not know what THE LORD is in. For THE LORD has given the Scripture; and the Scripture shows the Way. 3. The Third Instruction: The good, old, historic, Traditional, and Scriptural Church Service ought not to be forsaken. In today's Sermon, I showed the Way the Scripture says that True Christians come to THE LORD in hard times. They come to Scripture, JESUS, and the Preaching of the Scripture. Hebrews 10.25 says they do this in the setting of the Church Service. This was the Way our Mothers, Fathers, and Grandparents came to THE LORD. This is the Way our First Churches came to THE LORD. They all came to THE LORD in this Way because they were convinced in their consciences that this was the Way THE LORD said to come. Surely, the best way to come to THE LORD is in the Way He said. In this Way, we are sure to seek Him. In this Way, we are sure to find Him. Amen.