God ordaining and delivering from trials (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] And verse 32, but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

[0:22] But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

[0:42] Have you ever been with Jeremiah? Have you ever turned to the third chapter, our third Lamentations, and read in it your very case?

[1:06] I know I have. In days gone by, and I'm not out of it yet. When I've read these words, I am the man that has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath.

[1:27] He hath led me and brought me into darkness, but not into light. You see, the child of grace, they go beyond all circumstances.

[1:44] Even as Jeremiah did in this Lamentation, it's the Lord, it's the Lord that's done it.

[1:54] You see, you're not looking at man, you're not looking at this circumstance or whatever it might be. You're looking to the Lord and you bow before him.

[2:09] The Lord has brought me into this path. The Lord has hedged up my way. I cry and I shout.

[2:20] He shouted out my prayer, says the soul, and I cannot get out of the trial. He has caused me grief and sorrow.

[2:35] There are times when the children of God, they come into trial.

[2:46] They walk through trial. They walk through deep paths, deep waters. And they come to a place where the Lord delivers them.

[3:05] Where the Lord is pleased to shine into their hearts. And they brought them in answer to prayer, in answer to travail of soul.

[3:21] The Lord may have laid a promise in your heart, poor soul. And in that promise you believed it would be performed.

[3:33] You believed it would be done. And you've walked. You may have walked several years in this trial, in faith.

[3:46] And with all the doubts and all the fears, the Lord has brought you through and brought you into that place where you've stood still.

[4:03] Like Moses stood still. And the Lord led them through the Red Sea. And they came.

[4:14] And they stood on the other side. And the sea returned. And they sang his praises.

[4:26] Do you know such a place as that? Where the Lord has been pleased to deliver you. And you had the witness in your heart that it is the Lord.

[4:42] In a full assurance, in that particular incident, in that particular case, through which you pass through, the full assurance of faith, if you know, if you were to speak to the soul here, they would say, we know, the Lord has done it.

[5:05] The Lord has delivered me. But then, mark what I'm saying, it's a trial ordained of the Lord.

[5:19] A trial where the Lord has brought you. And I cannot think of any clearer definition of it or clearer explanation of it than when they passed through the Red Sea and they sang his praises.

[5:44] Where did they go to? Where did the Lord lead them? Now this, this is the point you see.

[5:57] The Lord has done it. Let's make that absolutely clear. It's the Lord that's done it. It's the Lord that's led you.

[6:09] It's the Lord that's brought you into this place. And now, he has led you to Mara where the waters are bitter.

[6:29] You see, it's the Lord that's done it. The witness that the Lord has put you there. The Lord has brought you to this place.

[6:41] And you say, why is it? Why is it, why is it, Lord, that I've come into this place? I looked for joy.

[6:53] I looked for heaven on earth. But look where I've come. I've come into the waters of Mara, and they are bitter to my soul.

[7:12] So here we are. And he says here, Jeremiah says, but though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies.

[7:33] Now, walking this path out, poor soul, the path which you believe, if we put it that way, the path which you believe, the Lord has chosen for you.

[7:52] Do you know what it is, poor soul, to walk in that path where you believe the Lord has chosen it for you.

[8:06] But, you'll prove this in the days of darkness. darkness. The Lord hides his face.

[8:20] Whereas, you see, there was, when you came into that spot and that place where you sang his praises, there was no roof to your house if you were inside.

[8:36] And you may have walked along the road and the very tree shone with the glory of the Lord. And you surveyed nature and you saw the glory of the Lord in nature.

[8:54] That when you're, the change is in you, you know. You said, let the earth sing his praises. Let all the creatures of the earth sing his praises.

[9:09] And then to come into such a path as this, a path of grief, a path of sorrow.

[9:22] And you cannot understand it. At times, you know, this song, they come, they don't come into the second part of the text.

[9:38] They come into this and they feel the Lord has caused them grief. There is, there is a hymn that says, to the effect, I can't recall it to mind correctly, but I know when a poor prisoner, through a grate, sees others walk at large, how does he mourn by his lowly state and long for a discharge.

[10:15] The Lord has brought me here. If you was to get close to the soul, and that's the point I want to make, it's the Lord that's done it, not man.

[10:33] The Lord himself has done it, says the soul. He brought me into darkness and not into light.

[10:45] My heart, says the poor soul, was absolutely, feelingly dependent upon him.

[10:56] I've walked in this way, I hope, in obedience to him. And here I am, in this state.

[11:08] Why is it? Why am I in this state, he said? Why is it that the Lord's forsaken me? Why is it that the Lord's brought me into this grief and sorrow and not favoured me to walk on in the joy which I felt before him?

[11:36] Surely it would have been more God honouring. Surely that it would be more to the praise of the Lord that I should walk in that path in singing his praises.

[11:52] But here I am, I've come down into this low dungeon. I think he speaks of it here, he said, they cut off my life in the dungeon and cast a stone upon me.

[12:08] Waters flowed over mine head, then I said, I am cut off. I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low dungeon.

[12:22] I must reiterate this point that the Lord has done it. You see, look at Jeremiah where he came in this, you see, he came in obedience to the Lord.

[12:41] Right at the very, in the very first chapter, I believe it is, in Jeremiah Jeremiah, when the Lord commanded him to declare what he would have him declare, what did he say?

[12:57] What did he say to the Lord right at the very beginning? He said here, O Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.

[13:12] You see, the witness that he's had, the witness in his soul, that the Lord had done it. You see, the commandment of the Lord, before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

[13:44] That man, you see, he had the word of the Lord. Even, you see, as Moses had the word of the Lord.

[13:55] And you see, even you, poor soul, you've had the word of the Lord, and you've had this point where you've come to sing his praises and to believe.

[14:10] there's a vast difference between coming into a trial where you do not know, a trial which is not sanctified, a trial which, to use an illustration, may be a spark of your own kindling, a vast difference between that trial and a trial ordained of the Lord.

[14:47] You see, the poor soul, in the expectation of it, they feel in their hearts, you see, the Lord, when the Lord speaks to them, the Lord might have spoken to you, and made it clear to you, his mind and his will to you, and you obeyed him.

[15:18] And now you've come into these waters, now you've come into this point, you see, the Lord is between you and the Lord himself, no other person can help this soul, no one.

[15:38] They may try to show sympathy, they may try to speak comfortably to you, they may try to lift, put their hand to lift you out of it, to bring you out of this low dungeon, to bring you out of this cell which you feel to be in.

[16:07] And whilst you appreciate their kindness, whilst you appreciate their affections, whilst you appreciate their love to you, the case is between you and the Lord, because he has done it.

[16:32] And no one, no one can help this soul out of this trouble, this trial which is about the Lord himself.

[16:47] you say not even a loving parent, or a loving wife, or husband, a loving child, you say they can't help you, no.

[17:07] You may be surrounded by love and sympathy and kindness, but it doesn't answer the case.

[17:24] The Lord has caused grief. That's what the child says. It's the Lord that's brought me in here.

[17:36] And it's only the Lord can deliver me. Now in this trial which you're walking, if I've got one here, walking in a trial, where you believe the Lord has placed you in that trial, trial.

[18:06] And you've come that he's caused you grief in that trial. Are there moments in that trial which you're walking, are there moments when it is as if faith, a little faith, a little who can tell, rises up from underneath, underneath all these things, underneath the bitterness that you walk.

[18:45] The food that you eat, you eat it with bitter herbs. I'm speaking of spiritual food, bitter herbs as you eat them.

[19:06] And you see, you feel this underneath all those things, just a moment.

[19:19] Although he caused grief, yet will he have compassion. you have a little hope, rise up underneath everything, where you believe that the Lord knows about your case, because he's the author of it, you see.

[19:46] That's why. If you did not know at the outset of the trial, if you did not believe that it was the Lord that placed you there, you would not come into this part of it where you believe that the Lord causes grief, yet will he have compassion.

[20:16] you may be even reading these words, you may have turned to the third lamentation in the very feelings of your heart, because you feel this, that he has set me in dark places, he hath builded against me, he hath hedged me about, also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer, he hath enclosed my ways with hewn stones, he hath made my paths crooked, all of these things preceded this, you see, and you may have read it, you may have gone and you said, yes, this is my case, this is my very case, the Lord hath done all of these things, surely against me is his hand turned, you see,

[21:20] I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer, all of these things, it enters right down deep into your very soul, and it seems as though your very soul bleeds, can I be more explicit on that?

[21:39] it seems that your very soul cries out, it goes deeper than tears on the surface, you may weep when you're on your own, but it goes deeper than that, you go to your very heart cries within you, and then to read something like this, to come to this part, although he caused grief, yet will he have compassion, there's hope, spring up within the soul, for a moment, it's like, you see, in the dark, stormy, thunder clouds, sometimes everything is black, and thunder, and lightnings, and you might just have a ray of sunshine, pierced through the cloud, and this is what it's like within the soul, just a ray of light come within your very soul, right where you are, poor soul, the

[22:52] Lord will have compassion, and you know, when you have this, when you have this grief, you see the case, you've got the grief, and the Lord has caused the grief, grief, and you feel this, he will have compassion upon you, you feel this in the trial, right there, when you feel that beam, sunbeam, come right into your heart, you feel this, that he will deliver you, don't you?

[23:31] Now, watch this point, in these trials, you may have looked for ways where the Lord would work to deliver you out of your trial, poor soul, you may, you see, you feel the Lord has done it, and you keep looking this way and you keep looking that way, don't you?

[24:07] You think, oh, perhaps the Lord will deliver me in this way, perhaps the Lord will appear here, perhaps he will, he will in a moment lift me up and bring me out of the trial, but he won't work that way, poor soul.

[24:28] He won't work that way. He tarries oft till men are faint, and comes at evening late.

[24:43] We've just sung that hymn, we sung it this morning, and it came back to me again, thy whole dependence on me fix, nor entertain a thought, thy worthless schemes with mine to mix, but venture to be not.

[25:08] You might say, you might shrink within yourself all of these little hopes that you've built up in your heart, the Lord will appear, and you may even say to the Lord this, now is thy opportunity, Lord.

[25:31] Little hopes spring up in your heart that the Lord will deliver you there, and he will bring you out, but this is the point.

[25:42] You come and see that door closed, and what does it do?

[25:54] The Lord has caused me grief, the Lord has brought me deeper and deeper into it. Now, you don't realise it, but your hands are coming cleaner, my hands are coming cleaner, you may say, I don't understand you.

[26:22] It's against all sense and reason, and so it is, poor soul. Everything that you've built upon this, that you see, you've had the little hope, the little assurance in your heart, a promise, you may have felt this in your heart in that deepest hour, when you felt this, that though he caused grief, yet will he have compassion, you felt in your heart that the Lord would deliver you, that he would bring you out out of this trial, and immediately you saw the way which he could bring you out.

[27:20] Now have I made it clear, and that which you built upon, the fact that the Lord said he would deliver you, you've built upon it in your own imaginations, and how long you may have looked upon it, and how many times you might have spent hours in bed, looking at it and feeling, yes, this is the way the Lord will appear, only to find that, that door, that everything pertaining to that is shut.

[28:10] Where does it bring you? It brings you here, it brings you where, it brought Jeremiah, you sit in dust and ashes, you come, you see, when, you see, there's so much in you that's working in it, there's so much of self which is working in it, bearing in mind this, that, that which the Lord is the author of, and that, and that alone, will come to pass, and nothing more, that which the Lord is the author of.

[29:07] He brought you into these places, and now you are here, here, bring you, now a still, poor soul.

[29:18] all of those things which you've looked upon, and you may have done this, and you may be doing it for all I know, you may have been working here, and working there, feeling that this way, or that way, the Lord will work, but you prove after all, it's all of no avail, no avail whatsoever, until you come to this place, and this is the place where the Lord brings his people, so that he may have, you see, unknown to you, he's got compassion to you right the way through, poor soul, though you feel to be walking in this path of sorrow, this path of grief, yet, he is walking with you in hand, the Lord is waiting to be gracious, now, you may say to me, but how do I know that the

[30:51] Lord is walking with me in it, these things which you tried to perform in your own strength to come out of it, they failed, Lord, now, there's something in your heart, you know, that something in your heart is this, you have not vitally got the will of the Lord, have you?

[31:32] You know, in yourself, although you hope on this, that the Lord will work this way to bring you out, vitally before him, there's a question, you see, you believed that he would bring you out, you believed that he'd bring you out, the promise that he would bring you out of the trial, and you rejoiced in your heart that he would bring you out of the trial, but you see, this, this what you're doing, this, this opening as it were, doesn't seem right, doesn't seem right to you, something about it doesn't quite fit in, yet your flesh hopes that you will be brought out in this way.

[32:32] Now, have I made myself clear? Have I made it clear to you? that the Lord himself at the appointed time, not a moment before, not a moment after, the appointed time, he will bring you out, and then when he brings you out, it will be vastly different, but you see, you've got to come down, in these bitter waters that you're drinking, the Lord will bring you down, and down, and down, causing you grief, you feel, you feel, actually, under this trial, you feel, that it will be your end, you feel, and you know, what,

[33:38] I believe it was Newton said, wilt thou pursue thy worm to death, it was either Berridge or Newton, I don't know, I've forgotten which one now, you see, but why is this, he trembling cried, blow upon blow, you feel, poor soul, in this, under this grief, which you're walking in, now, you come to that spot, now, have you come to that spot, in your, in this trial, which you're walking, when you cease, from your own works, bad or good, when you come to cease, your own works in it, your very desire, yea, out of the very necessity of the trial, you see, because it's the trial, you see, hadn't come out of the trial, the very fact that you feel he's hedged you about, you cannot get out, you have made my chain heavy, that's it, poor soul, you see, you cannot get out, whatever you may have done, you cannot get out of the trial, and you come here, to cease, you sit down, in sackcloth, you mourn, don't you, and sometimes you wonder in this trial, through which you're passing, you'll wonder, and you feel that there's no hope whatsoever of coming out, no hope at all, it's all finished, the Lord has forsaken me, you see, do God's people walk in such trials,

[36:02] I say, yes they do, I know they do, the Lord has forsaken me, and here I am, thy whole dependence on me fixed, now you haven't come there before, you know, right in that spot, right where you sit down in the ashes, right where you come there, you see, you may say this, unless the Lord appears, I'm finished, and so you are, completely finished, what there is in this poor soul's heart, as they feel, you see, and not only this, you may feel this, you see, you've had the assurance, and this is what makes it worse, says the soul, makes it worse, yes, you see, you believe that the

[37:15] Lord put you in that path, and you believed, you rejoiced in it, but now it's come to nothing, it's come to nothing, and Satan mocks you, Satan says, if you were a real child of grace, you wouldn't walk in such bars as these, look at so and so, and he might show you one of God's saints, and he might show you the path that they've walked, and he might say, yes, but the difference between them and you is that they are those that trust in the Lord, and they are not sinners like you, what you've done, and this sinks the soul lower than ever, what they've done, what you've done, you've sinned away all hope of the blessing, and the

[38:25] Lord has changed his mind, you've had, you see, that Satan may say to you, and you may not, and you can't say it, Satan, this is it, showed you, you see, you've had the promise, yes, you've had the promise, there's no doubt whatsoever about it, the Lord has appeared for you, and the Lord has spoken to you, but now look at your sins, look at this, and look at that, and you have to say, yes, that's true, that's true, I've sinned away all hope of the promise, and the Lord has changed his mind, changed his mind, because I'm such a sinner, now if I was one like his chosen people, like the real chosen people of

[39:39] God, then I would have received the promise, but now look at it, and you see this, this adds, as it were, a sword right in an open wound, the bitterness of the cup, the Lord causes grief, and you cannot reply against him, and you say this, I believe that the Lord in his mercy appeared for me, and I've rejected all mercy, I've forfeited all hope of mercy, and here I am in this path, in this low dungeon, in this state, says the poor soul, and I cannot hope,

[40:44] I cannot expect, to receive any, the least hope, of coming out of this, what I'm in, no hope whatsoever, and you look at it all, finished completely, and yet, the strange thing is, with this child, they've ceased, from their own works, and here they are, here they are in this case, now, I do not believe, that the child of grace, is long, in this state, you may be a long time, coming to this spot, to this place, but, when you come finished, finished completely, clothed in this sackcloth, and your eyes, are up to the

[42:02] Lord, you may even come here, cast off, forever, now, the Lord, may lay in your heart, that he is about, to deliver you, will come, it says here, though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion, you see, the grief that you pass through, Paul, so all of these things, now, that which is laid in your heart, is a persuasion, received from him, as distinct from that which arose in your heart, that he would deliver you in this or that way, now, have I made it clear, that distinction, now, you see, you come into that place, where he will deliver you, where he will bring you through, in his own way, in his own time, now, you do not question how, or by what means, the very fact that you're in this low dungeon, the very fact that you're enclosed in this spot, this cell which you're in, with no hope, with no expectation, naturally, of coming out of it, you don't question it, but you believe, living faith, right from underneath, right from the bottoms of the mountains, living faith, come from the

[44:16] Lord himself, he will deliver you, the soul says this, a little under this hope, this who can tell, it's more than a who can tell, it's an assurance that the Lord will deliver me, you speak to that one, right in that very spot, they believe it's the Lord will deliver them, and you may say to them, but how will the Lord deliver you, and they will answer this, I don't know, I do not know how he will deliver me, but I believe that he will, and with this, believing that he will, you come and you see, he does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men, to crush under his feet all the prisoners of the earth, this feeling, this feeling within the heart is living faith, and a complete trust, we return to that hymn again, you see how that child was willingly, and it said here, what did it say right in that, it says here, as when a child secure from harms, hangs at the mother's breast, safe folded in her anxious arms, receiving food and rest, but the very point that I want to make is this, but you see, there's that complete trust in the

[46:25] Lord, you see, you willingly trust in him, your whole trust is in him, now, let us go a step further, I think the time's nearly gone, but if we can go a step farther with this, you see, now, having received that from the Lord, nothing's changed outside, nothing's changed whatsoever, mark that point, nothing's changed, and you believe that the Lord will appear, have you come there, poor soul, have you come, you may say, yes, I believe the Lord has caused grief, the Lord has brought me into darkness, but I believe that he will have compassion upon me, he has had compassion upon me, this living faith, oh, what there is in this living faith, you see, complete trust in the

[47:46] Lord, trusting in him, holy, glory, now, how will he deliver you, he may do this, poor soul, he may lay in your heart, be still, wait and watch for my appearing, hope springs up, now, when he comes, he may just open a door slightly, open a door slightly, yes, you see, the door is ajar, he may show to you the way, he may open the door away, there may be just one word spoken, an invitation, what do you do, now, before, you remember before, how you went on, now, you see, your prayer before the

[49:11] Lord, you lay it before him, is this the way thou wilt have me go Lord, prayer, prayer before him, is this the way Lord, and you venture step by step, and at each step you take, there is this spirit up, before the Lord, a tender heart before the Lord, willing for him to do his will, and as you watch before him, you may find the door open a little wider, fear, there be obstacles, poor soul, there be obstacles in the way to try your faith, and shall I tell you where the obstacles will come from, they will come from inside you, fear, you may fear to venture, your whole flesh may say,

[50:39] I cannot do it, I cannot go this way, and you, but at the same time, there is this spirit within you that looks up to him, venture on him, venture holy, you see, the purpose of this bringing you into grief, is to bring you to that place, and that spot, where to trust in him, trust him holy, he will not fail, you poor soul, every step you've taken up before this time, every time that you've had before, there's been your own nature, your own will, and all of these things in it, but now, this is different, this is completely different, this venturing upon the

[51:43] Lord, what there is in here, there is perfect safety in here, if you could but see it, poor soul, but the poor soul comes in their heart, and they tremble as they venture, and I'll tell you something else you may have, you may have those, but you see the door has been opened, the Lord has opened the door, but there may be those that would seek to close it, I know what I'm talking about, there are those that would hinder you, there's a hymn which one read recently, hinder me not, hinder me not, mark that point, hinder me not, says the soul, you remember

[53:02] Jesus said, I must be about my father's business, but you see, you, you keep close as you can to him, all of these things which hinder you, now this path which is in front of you, is the leading of the Lord, now he will go before you, and he will make a way for you, and he will carry you, you feel this is what you want, don't you, you want, you do not feel that you have strength enough to walk it, but you desire the Lord to carry you, right now you may be feeling in your heart, poor soul,

[54:05] I'm so fearful, yes you one, trust him holy, that's all I can say, put your whole trust in the Lord and he will bring it to pass, amen.

[54:22] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[54:44] Amen. Thank you.

[55:06] Thank you. to read his will. Who cannot do what he's done to pay must be right of sin. In number 261.

[55:38] The End The End The End

[57:08] The End The End The End

[58:12] The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End The End

[59:14] The End The End The End The End A Massacre In the name of the Lord, I saw him in the name of the Lord, I saw him in the name of the Lord,

[60:17] That myding peadacket of Jesus, In the name of the Lord of the Lord, In the name of This Booth day at the name of the Lord, I saw him in the name of the Lord, and this Booth day at the name of the Lord, Amen.

[60:47] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Even with such a trial before thee, Lord.

[61:54] O Lord, I believe that thou wilt appear and that thou wilt deliver them, Lord.

[62:05] O Lord help us to wait on thee Lord I believe thou wilt deliver them but wilt thou deliver me Lord thou knowest what each one walks and Lord I do pray that thou wilt bless this people go before them in all their untrodden steps Lord bless them indeed and Lord I do pray that thou wilt pardon all that thy pure eyes have seen amidst since we've met together Lord take us each Lord to where we go Lord in peace and safety and Lord I would plead with thee be with one this night

[63:07] Lord I need thee every step of the way and thy people need thee thou knowest we do and help us to depend on thee and on thee alone Lord and now may the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ the love of God the Father the sweet communion of the Blessed Spirit rest and abide with us each now and evermore Amen God willing our prayer meeting will be as usual on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock next door will stay there will be a reading service in the morning

[64:12] God willing Mr. T. Rosier will be ministered to us in the after part of the day for a night