151 Sermon Illustrations on Trials

A grapevine says, in the early spring, "How glad I am to get through the winter! I shall have no more trouble now! Summer weather will come, and the garden will be very beautiful!" But the gardener comes, and cuts the vine here and there with his knife. The twigs begin to fall, and the grapevine calls out, "Murder! What are you cutting me for?" "Ah," says the gardener, "I do not mean to kill you. If I did not do this, you would be the laughingstock of all the other vines before the season is over." Months go on and one day the gardener comes under the trellis, where the great clusters of grapes hang, and the grapevine says, "Thank you, sire, you could not have done anything so kind as to cut me with that knife." No pruning, no grapes; no grinding mill, no flour; no battle, no victory; no cross, no crown.

"How can a God of love, who has everything in His control, let such a thing happen to me?" So asked a young woman who had received severe injuries through a fall from a horse. "Crippled for life," she overheard the doctor say.

The pastor was silent for a moment. "Did you suffer much pain when they put you in the cast?"

"The pain was terrible," she replied.

"Where was your father then?"

"He stood right by me," she replied.

"Did your father allow the doctor to hurt you that way?"

"Yes, but that was necessary."

"Did your father allow the doctor to hurt you even though he loved you, or because he loved you?"

"You mean to suggest that because God loves me, He also allowed me to be hurt?"

The pastor answered with a nod. "'This thing is from Me.'Let these five words comfort you. They will furnish a silver lining to the cloud. Yours is not a case of 'hard luck.'This trial was planned by God."

If you are His child, He is preparing you for better service.

Shakespeare said: "In sickness, let me not so much say, 'Am I getting better of my pain; but am I getting better for it.'"

Let us not say, "When will I be getting out of this?" but, "What will I be getting out of this?" He will draw you closer to Him through this trial.

There is a legend about a grandfather clock that stood in a corner for three generations, faithfully ticking off the minutes, hours and days-its means of operation was a heavy weight suspended by a double chain. One of its new owners, believing that an old clock should not bear such a load, released the weight. Immediately the ticking stopped. According to the legend, the clock asked, "Why did you do that?" The owner replied, "I wanted to lighten your burden." "Please put my weight back," replied the clock. "That is what keeps me going."

A man completely dejected by life's afflictions was walking one day in the botanical gardens of Oxford when his attention was arrested by a fine pomegranate tree with a stem which was cut almost through. On asking the gardener the reason, he received an answer which explained the wounds of his troubled spirit. "Sir," said he, "this tree used to shoot so strongly that it bore nothing but leaves. I was therefore obliged to cut it in this manner, and when it was almost cut through then it began to bear plenty of fruit."

If Abraham Lincoln was a young man today, the traveling library would supply him with books; a county caseworker would see that he had enough light to read by; the government would see that his parents got a monthly welfare check, housing assistance and food stamps. Abe could apply for an educational loan and some social service clubs would see that he went to camp each summer.

End result: There would be no Abe Lincoln such as the one we remember and love who overcame poverty and adversity to become one of the greatest Presidents of all time.

”I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.” Isaiah 45:3

“I have never been in this place before. It is new ground for me and I find I am way out of my comfort zone. I am scared to death to trust Him at this level. I had to confess to the Lord I have not been able to accept or believe His love for me in this area.” Those were the words I expressed to a friend when I was in a difficult place in my life. It was that day when I confessed those words that God led me to this passage of scripture.

What we perceive as dark periods in our lives are designed to be treasures from God. They are actually riches stored in secret places. We cannot see those times in this light because of the often accompanying pain or fear that prevents us from accepting these times as treasures. They have a particular purpose from God’s viewpoint; “so that you may know that I am the Lord who summons you by name.”

You see, unless we are cast into times in which we are completely at the mercy of God for breakthroughs in our lives we will never experience the faithfulness of God in those areas. We will never know how personal He is or that He can be trusted to meet the deepest needs in our lives. God wants each of us to know that we are “summoned by name.” Every hair of our head is numbered. Every activity we are involved in He knows. His love for you and me knows no bounds, and He will take every opportunity to demonstrate this to you and me.

Has God brought you into a place of darkness? Trust Him today to allow Him to reveal that hidden treasure that can be found in this darkness. Let Him summon you by name.

”Nay, but O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to Him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” Romans 9:20)

Every believer goes through difficult experiences from time to time — loss of a job, a painful injury, failure of some plan, death of a needed loved one, even facing terminal illness of his own — and the natural tendency is to cry out “Why, O God?”

God surely understands our longing for an answer, because He made us — “He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14). But He would have us merely trust Him. Job, who surely suffered more than any of us, could say: “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” (Job 13:15).

Job did indeed plead for an understanding of his undeserved sufferings, but God did not answer as requested. Instead, He responded merely by reminding Job of His great creation and His providential care for all living things (Job 38-41). As our great Potter, he has the right to make His vessels for both honor and dishonor (Romans 9:21). We who have been redeemed by His mercy should be grateful that he chose us even before the world began (Ephesians 1:3–4; 2 Timothy 1:9), confident that He – by whatever means He chooses – is preparing His “vessels of mercy” to receive full manifestation of His glory in the ages to come (Romans 9:23; Ephesians 2:7). Then fact that our finite minds cannot fully comprehend right now what He is doing in our lives merely gives us an opportunity to trust Him more.

“We know that all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28) in those who are His. Therefore he would say: “Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (1 Peter 4:19).

”We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” — Acts 14:22

God’s people have their trials. It was never designed by God, when He chose His people, that they should be an untried people. They were chosen in the furnace of affliction; they were never chosen to worldly peace and earthly joy. Freedom from sickness and the pains of mortality was never promised them; but when their Lord drew up the charter of privileges, He included chastisements among the things to which they should inevitably be heirs. Trials are a part of our lot; they were predestined for us in Christ’s last legacy. So surely as the stars are fashioned by his hands, and their orbits fixed by Him, so surely are our trials allotted to us. He has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. God’s children should never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them. Mark the patience of Job; remember Abraham, for he had his trials, and by his faith under them, he became the “Father of the faithful.” Note well the biographies of all the patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and martyrs, and you shall discover none of those whom God made vessels of mercy, who were not made to pass through the fire of affliction. It is ordained of old that the cross of trouble should be engraved on every vessel of mercy, as the royal mark whereby the King’s vessels of honor are distinguished. But although tribulation is the path of God’s children, they have the comfort of knowing that their Master has traversed it before them. They have His presence and sympathy to cheer them, His grace to support them, and His example to teach them how to endure; and when they reach “the kingdom,” it will more than make amends for the “much tribulation” through which they passed to enter it.

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The Evangelist, news-magazine of the Evangelical Tract Distributors, P.O. Box 146, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5J 2G9 –1-780-477-1538 – www.evangelicaltract.com

Every Christian, because of his or her union with Christ, is called to suffer, according to a worker with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board. The New Testament makes it clear that everyone who is called by God to salvation also is called to sanctification and service as well as suffering, the worker said. It is just as certain as their salvation that suffering will come to every Christian but it is always for their good and God's glory, he said. (The IMB worker is in a restricted access area and cannot be identified for security reasons.)

“If we are called to salvation, sanctification and to service, we are called to suffering in each one of those things,” the worker said. “It is an intrinsic component of every one of them. Suffering is part of our calling to salvation. Suffering is a consequence of our relationship with Christ. It is a consequence really of our union with Him.

“The call to suffering, like God's call to salvation, is always effectual. It is the inevitable part of any believer's life. The call to suffering is also irrevocable [and is] a normal part of the Christian life. In fact, [the Apostle] Paul even goes so far as to call it a gift. It's a blessing. It is hard for us to bend our minds around this [idea] that the call of God to suffer is a call to blessing.”

Scripture also makes it clear that God is behind the sufferings of His people, the worker said. Suffering never falls outside of God's sovereign will and control. It is part of His wise but often mysterious plan for all believers, he said.

“It is God who calls us to suffering,” he said. “It's His sovereign initiative, based on His sovereign wisdom and His immutable purposes that we, as the children of God, should suffer.

“So, this call to suffering is right, it's holy, it's good. He knows what He is doing. It reflects His wisdom and His character that when He calls us to suffer, it is the right thing for us to do.”

While believers may seldom know why they are going through fiery trials, the Bible gives several reasons why God allows His children to enter the red-hot cauldron of suffering, the worker said. Suffering may or may not be God's punishment for a particular sin and it often occurs simply because we live in a fallen world, he said.

“There are many passages in Scripture that warn us against [making] too facile a connection between suffering and particular sin,” he said. “It may be but it may not be. Simply because we live in a world that we, as a race, have messed up by our rebellion against God, there is suffering that we may experience just because we are in a messed-up world.”

Sometimes suffering does come as a consequence of sin and may serve as discipline from the hand of our loving Father, he said. However, he cautioned believers against trying to discern the judgment of God within the lives of others.

“It is always wise, when you are the person suffering, to ask yourself the question, `What is God trying to tell me through this?'“ he said. “Sometimes I believe God allows suffering to come into our lives as a warning to us.... I am a sinner and, just as I discipline my children for their own good, God may be doing that to me.

“It's seldom wise to apply that to someone else's life without incredible care and discernment but it is always wise to apply this possibility to yourself.”

Suffering also comes because the world system -- which has set itself in rebellion against God -- regards Christians as traitors and outcasts who swim against the current of “conventional wisdom,” the worker said. Christians should be alarmed and must examine themselves if they are not facing at least a measure of opposition.

“The world hates us because it hated Jesus,” he said. “There is an inevitability to that. And where there is no sense of being out of step or out of kilter with the world around us, that should be cause for tremendous alarm.

“Where there is no opposition, where there is no suffering of any kind, we have to ask ourselves, 'Why does the enemy regard me as so impotent that he can leave me alone? Why am I able to be in a fallen world without experiencing any opposition?’ There is opposition because of our union with Christ, because the world hates Christ and because the world is threatened by Him.”

Above all, suffering often is God's instrument for sanctifying His people, the worker said. It is actually a manifestation of His matchless grace that God has called believers to share in His sufferings.

“God often uses suffering in our lives so that it very graciously begins to wean us away from our affections for the things of this world,” he said. “Suffering is a component of service. When you seek to serve Christ, there will be some component of suffering to it.”

Americans like to get where they are going. We don't like to be slowed down. Anyone who has taken a trip on a major interstate likely knows the disheartening sight of orange “Road Work Ahead” signs as the road narrows down to one lane and traffic slows to creeping. Detours are inconvenient. Even worse than an inconvenient detour are purposeless detours. I have sat in construction traffic for what seemed like miles, only to discover at the end of the stretch that there was no construction; the project hadn't been started yet!

Although I'll probably never enjoy detours or traffic jams, I am far more willing to endure them if I believe they have a purpose. If the road work will eventually make the road wider and thus shorten my commute, I am more willing to be inconvenienced.

One of the verses I heard most often growing up in the church was Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Christians quote this verse in response to all manner of trials, from the relatively trivial crisis of not making the cheerleading squad to the devastating loss of a child or spouse. Although the frequency with which we quote Romans 8:28 may have made it seem cliché or trite in some circles, I know of no more profound and hopeful promise in all of the Scriptures.

I regret that the familiarity of this promise can make those who hear it fail to probe its meaning. We stop listening midway through the verse, only able to retain the thought that God is working all things for good for those who love him. Yet this verse also tells us tells us what kind of good He is working: purposeful good. For not all good is purposeful. Ice cream is good, but it is not a purposeful good in the way that exercise is good. Sleep is a purposeful good, as is parenting. And those who love God have been called to a purpose.

Aren't you curious to know what that purpose might be? If we stopped reading at verse twenty-eight, we would only have half of the story and only be able to guess at the purpose revealed to us in verse twenty-nine: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” This is our purpose unveiled: to become more like Christ. (If you've ever wondered why God put you on this earth, now you know.)

Sometimes we can see an obvious reason God steers us away from the course we had intended to take. I can think of several examples of this in my own life. But other times, I can't see any point to the detour. I feel like a driver craning her neck, hoping desperately to see work going on, hoping that the disappointment has a purpose. If we believe Romans 8:28-29, we can rest in the knowledge that every joy and sorrow in the life of a Christian is purposeful, and the purpose is to conform us to the likeness of Jesus. God takes sanctification seriously. He is resourceful enough to use ANYTHING to make us more like Jesus, even those experiences that seem to us like a complete waste.

Corrie Ten Boom (a woman who was no stranger to suffering) writes, “God has plans — not problems — for our lives.” His plan is to make us look like our brother, his “firstborn” (v. 29). The transformation may be painful, but it is purposeful, and the result will be glorious for all to see.

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Copyright © 2006 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. "A Slice of Infinity" is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries.

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Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice. — 1 Peter 4:12, 13.

Trials afford vigorous exercise to harden the spiritual muscles. Trials are the heavy hammer of the smith, the ringing axe of the woodman, the dumb-bells of the gymnast, which tighten the tendons, solidify the muscle, and invigorate the entire frame. Trials are the fiery sun of summer, the biting frost of winter, which give color, hardness, and endurance to the physical system. Trials are the storms that sweep the ocean of life to give courage, skill, and patience to the sailors who tread the deck. Storms make sailors and trials make the Christian.

In the trial God is with thee, thence to bring thee forth more bright,

He can never cease to love thee; Thou art precious in His sight:

God is with thee, God, thine everlasting light. — Thomas Kelly.

For a long time the tanners who handled the hides of Western steers were puzzled by the fact that one side of the hide was usually perceptibly thicker and heavier than the other. A thoughtful cowboy who was visiting an Eastern tannery was told of the fact and accounted for it in the following way: Every steer is branded on one of its flanks with its owner's particular device. The branding produces a painful burn, and it is several days before the hide entirely heals. While the burn is healing the steer naturally takes all possible precautions to favor the sore side, and, therefore, lies down with the branded flank uppermost. A few days suffice to form the habit of lying only on the unbranded side. This, of course, protects one side from the biting winds of winter, and at the same time interferes more or less with the circulation of the blood and the normal development of the tissue. The other side, on the contrary, exposed to every wind and with perfect circulation, becomes thick, tough, and healthy. The same thing is strongly in evidence in human character. It is on the sides of our nature where we have winced under the branding-iron of trial that we become strong and able to overcome all difficulty. We should thank God for the trials and afflictions that make nobler men and women of us.

It is instructive to know how it is supposed the pearl is formed. A grain of sand, or some foreign substance, getting entrance within the shell of an oyster, hurts its sensitive body, which, having no power to expel the cause of pain, covers it with a secretion, and by degrees rounds off all sharp angles, molds it into a sphere, and finishes it with a polished surface. Thus it accepts the inevitable presence as a part of its life, and when it dies yields up, shaped and perfected, a perfect gem, lovely with the tints of the skies, a jewel whose worth is far beyond the pain that gave it existence.

God often introduces into human lives some element of discomfort, unrest, or suffering-a thorn in the flesh that cannot be plucked out, a burden that must be borne, a daily cross not to be laid down. Some souls thus dealt with chafe against the trial; they contend with it till their sensibilities are lacerated by its cruel edges, and their hearts become morbid and bitter. They make its presence one long perpetual pain and poison. Others, recognizing the trial as Heaven-sent, and therefore not to be escaped, accept it, not with joy, indeed, but with meekness; and though it press hard and sharply, they wear it with a sweet patience that, day by day, enables them to carry it more easily. It even becomes the source of an inward development, the growth of a grace which at the last proves to be the crowning, adorning attribute of their character, the especial quality which, rounded out to perfect symmetry, reflects the beauty of heaven.

Jesus was the Son of God, the same in substance with the Father, His equal in power and in glory. But He condescended to be God's "righteous servant," and His own words express the submission of His will to the Father's. If the divine Redeemer speaks and feels thus, how submissive to God ought we to be! Illness may prostrate us, death may bereave us, poverty may try us, the tears of the widowed or of the fatherless may flow from our eyes; but let us aim at having the same mind in us that was in Christ, and the divine Father will carry us through, and give us the victory at length.

There is something very beautiful to me in the truth that suffering, rightly used, is not a cramping, binding, restricting of the human soul, but a setting of it free. It is not a violation of the natural order; it is only a more or less violent breaking open of some abnormal state that the natural order may be resumed. It is the opening of a cage door. It is the breaking in of a prison wall. This is the thought of those fine old lines of an early English poet-

The soul's dark cottage,

battered and decayed,

Lets in new light through chinks

that time has made,

Stronger by weakness, wiser

men become

As they draw near to their

eternal home.

Peter Writes to Pilgrims — 1 Peter 1:5–6 — Kept, though Tried – Thank You, Lord! — « Leader information shown in this fashion »

« Properly speaking, verse 5 is the end of one paragraph, the close of one subject, while verse 6 is the start of the next, opening a new subject, but we will look at them together so we do not miss the connection by which Peter builds upon the message he is writing. »

A. Review

1. “Blessed be the God and Father of Jesus Christ our Lord…” blessing (giving thanks to) God for « – His blessing bestowed upon us »

2. ‘… Who, according to His great mercy …’, in particular, His « – mercy provided abundantly and freely »

3. ‘… having regenerated us …’ which is shown to us in the « – new birth (or birth from above) which makes us God’s children »

4. ‘… unto a living hope …’ and this results in our having « – the hope of the resurrection »

5. which is described as ‘living,’ ‘… on account of Jesus Christ’s resurrection out from among the dead … ‘, because « – the Saviour who gave it to us was resurrected and is alive »

6. ‘… into an incorruptible, unpolluted and unfading inheritance, having been kept in store for you all in heaven …’; which we have…

a. … because our Saviour (”In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (NAS) John 14:2–3) « – is preparing it for us »

b. … because we have been (”… but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, …” (NAS) Romans 8:15-17) « – adopted as God’s children and made heirs »

c. and this differs from that received by Israel in the land of Canaan because it is « – enduring and pure »

B. Verse 5: Being Kept

1. ‘(for you all) … who are kept by God’s power through faith until salvation ready to be revealed in end time’

a. within a few words, two different words are used for kept; both of these can be rendered as preserved or guarded but there is a difference between them

b. Verse 4: ‘an … inheritance, having been kept in store’

i. when used of a thing as here (heaven)

ii. reserving for a definite purpose or suitable time

iii. preserving from loss, harm or disturbance

iv. what can we conclude about our inheritance? … it will be « – waiting for us exactly as God has planned and as He has promised »

c. Verse 5: ‘you … kept by God’s power’

i. when used of a person as here (the Christian)

ii. confined or guarded as in a garrison

iii. in custody to be brought out at a set time, which is how it is used in Galatians 3:23, “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.” (NAS)

iv. or the gentler, more protective thought found in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (NAS)

v. what can we conclude about God’s keeping us? … that it is so we will be « – garrisoned about, guarded and protected from anything that would attack our standing in Christ before God »

2. How sure is this keeping? … why? « – a certainty, because it is dependent upon God’s power and not our own. The word for power is ‘dynamis’ from which we get the English words ‘dynamite’ and ‘dynamics.’ It includes the idea of the ‘strength’ of God (as in LXX Psalm 21:1, 13 (20:2, 14)). »

3. From where do we find this power of God …

a. … Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, …” ( NAS)? « – in the gospel of Jesus Christ »

b. … 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (NAS), (also verse 24)? « – in the message of Christ crucified »

c. … 2 Corinthians 13:4 “For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you.” (NAS)? « – in the fact of the resurrection of Christ »

d. … 2 Timothy 1:8 “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with [me] in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,” (NAS)? « – in the sharing of afflictions with our Saviour; which is where Peter is headed »

4. What is the conduit by which this power is realized? « – faith; ‘… and shall believe that God has raised Him …’ (Romans 10:9); faith in God’s power brings His power into action »

5. Unto what aspect of salvation is this keeping power of God being exercised on our behalf? … with what is it associated (verse 4)? « – it is the culmination of the salvation process, associated with the inheritance that awaits us »

6. The three aspects of salvation are …

a. Redemption « – we were saved from the penalty of sin

»

b. Sanctification « – we are being saved from sin’s power

»

c. Glorification « – we will be saved from sin’s presence »

7. The word for time means ‘fitting or proper time, season’ (as of the season of harvest); the expression, ‘end time’ refers to the end of this present world-age upon Christ’s return

C. Verse 6: Being Tested

1. ‘… in this you rejoice greatly, though for a short while it is now necessary that you be distressed by manifold trials…’; the great contrast in this verse is …

a. … between our « – attitude, that of great joy »

b. … and our « – situation, one of trials and testing »

2. To what does ‘… in this’ refer?

a. to all the things for which Peter has just blessed God:

i. His great M______ « ercy »

ii. The new B_______ « irth »

iii. The living H_______ « ope »

iv. The enduring I____________ « nheritance »

v. His keeping P_______ « ower »

vi. The coming S__________ « alvation »

b. or, it could be translated ‘… in whom’ and refer to God who has accomplished all these things or more specifically, as in verse 8, to Jesus Christ, “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,” (1 Peter 1:8 NAS)

c. In point of fact, it is impossible to separate the Blessed God from the blessings He sends

3. What important fact does Peter point out about present trials that we may be undergoing? « – that compared to our eternal blessings and prospects, they are of but short duration »

4. Why are these trials now afflicting us necessary …

a. … Matthew 10:22, 24 “And you will be hated by all on account of My name, … A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master.” (NAS)? « – they are part of sharing the suffering of our heavenly Master »

b. … John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (NAS)? « – Christ promised that it would happen to us while we are in this world-age »

5. Discuss what trials and testings accomplish in us.

It is said of Jenny Lind that when Goldschmidt first heard her sing, somebody said, as he walked out of the opera house, "Goldschmidt, how did you like her singing?" He said: "Well, there was a harshness about her voice that needs toning down. If I could marry that woman, break her heart and crush her feelings, then she could sing." And it is said that afterwards when he did marry her and broke her heart and crushed her feelings, Jenny Lind sang with the sweetest voice ever listened to; so sweet that the angels of God would almost rush to the parapets of heaven to catch the strains.

-J. Wilbur Chapman

"When in Amsterdam, Holland, last summer," says a traveler, "I was much interested in a visit we made to a place then famous for polishing diamonds. We saw the men engaged in the work. When a diamond is found it is rough and dark like a common pebble. It takes a long time to polish it, and it is very hard work. It is held by means of a piece of metal close to the surface of a large wheel, which is kept going around. Fine diamond dust is put on this wheel, nothing else being hard enough to polish the diamond. And this work is kept on for months and sometimes for several years before it is finished. And if a diamond is intended for a king, then the greater time and trouble are spent upon it." Jesus calls His people His jewels. To fit them for beautifying His crown, they must be polished like diamonds, and He makes use of the troubles He sends to polish His jewels.

It is said that a soldier who enlisted in the American Civil War took along his kit of watchmaker's tools, and while they were in camp he did considerable business. But one day when the order came to strike tents and prepare for battle, he looked around his tent in dismay, and exclaimed: "Why, I can't possibly go, for I have twelve watches to repair, which I have promised by Saturday night." The man had forgotten what he had enlisted for. The soldiers of the King of kings sometimes seem to forget what they enlisted for.

Li Cha Mi, a Chinese preacher, was nearly killed by robbers during the violence against foreigners, in 1872. At a subsequent conference, he said: "You have all heard of my sufferings during the past few months. I wish to say that these sufferings were very slight. It was easy to endure pain when I could feel that I bore it for Christ. It is wonderful-I cannot explain it. When attacked by the robbers and beaten almost to death, I felt no pain. Their blows did not seem to hurt me at all. Everything was bright and glorious. Heaven seemed to open, and I thought I saw Jesus waiting to receive me. It was beautiful. I have no words to describe it. Since that time I seem to be a new man. I now know what it is to 'love not the world.' My affections are set on things above. Persecutions trouble me not. I forget all my sorrows when I think of Jesus. I call nothing on earth my own. I find that times of trial are best for me. When all is quiet and prosperous, I grow careless and yield to temptation, but when persecutions come, then I fly to Christ. The fiercer the trial, the better it is for my soul."

The hardships and trials of Paul's life were lifted out of the lowly and the commonplace because he looked upon them all as so many acts of service for Christ, whom he loved. Love is an easy taskmaster. To have endured hardship and imprisonment for Nero's sake, or as his prisoner, would have galled Paul to the very quick; but when he was in Nero's dungeon for Christ's sake, it was a very different matter. The way to make our lives romantic and splendid is to give ourselves in such complete devotion to Christ that the hard things of life will be endured in the spirit of love for his dear sake.

A man met a little fellow on the road carrying a basket of blackberries, and said to him, "Sammy, where did you get such nice berries?" "Over there, sir, in the briers!" "Won't your mother be glad to see you come home with a basket of such nice, ripe fruit?" "Yes sir," said Sammy, "she always seems glad when I hold up the berries, and I don't tell her anything about the briers in my feet." The man rode on. Sammy's remark had given him a lesson, and he resolved that henceforth he would try and hold up the berries and say nothing about the briers.

The bone that is broken is stronger, they tell us, at the point of junction, when it heals and grows again, than it ever was before. And it may well be that a faith that has made experience of falling and restoration has learned a depth of self-distrust, a firmness of confidence in Christ, a warmth of grateful love which it would never otherwise have experienced.

-Alexander Maclaren

Giving thanks always for all things. — Ephesians 5:20.

The text just means what it says. We have to give thanks for everything. That includes the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the homes in which we dwell, and even the country in which we live. It also includes the trials of life which God allows to test, try, and refine us. Those trials work patience and develop Christian character, and viewed in that light are a cause for rejoicing. — H. K. Downie.

Thank God for dirty dishes, they have a tale to tell,

While others may go hungry, we all are eating well.

With Home, and Health, and Gladness, I shouldn’t want to fuss,

By the stack of evidence, God’s been real good to us. — A Housewife

Sermon in Daniel series, #3. Daniel 3:5-18

BOW OR BURN

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I. Stalin's great tower.

II. Nebuchadnezzar's statue.

A. The dream had been of a statue with various qualities.

B. This statue definitely reflects the dream.

C. Chaldean officials set a trap. 3:8

III. Facing a fiery furnace.

A. The Jews don't rely on fancy words to escape the dilemma. 3:16

B. Our God is able.

C. Even if he doesn't...

IV. God comes through in a big way.

A. They are delivered.

B. God keeps them company.

V. Lessons to be learned.

A. Spiritual interest is not salvation.

B. All things work for good to those who love God.

C. God promises to give us grace in our time of need. Heb 4:16

VI. God outlasts any statue.

A. Where is Stalin's tower today?

B. Before whom do YOU bow?