In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan and grandson of Saul. The preacher emphasizes that Mephibosheth was chosen by God and given favor by King David, despite his physical disability. The preacher also highlights the role of the devil in trying to deceive and gossip about God's chosen ones. The sermon concludes with a discussion of the Apostle Paul's experience of being caught up to paradise and hearing unspeakable words, emphasizing the awe and wonder that would come from experiencing heaven firsthand.

566, please. Amid the trials that I meet, amid the thorns that pierce my feet, one thought remains supremely sweet, thou thinkest Lord of me. 566, please. Lord, in Thy love that I meet, amid the thorns that pierce my feet, one thought remains supremely sweet, thou thinkest Lord of me. Thou thinkest Lord of me. Thou thinkest Lord of me. What do I do when Thou art near? Thou thinkest Lord of me. Where are my bones, O man? Have I my soul left as a child? Have I denied my Father's love? Thou thinkest Lord of me. Thou thinkest Lord of me. What do I do when Thou art near? Thou thinkest Lord of me. Good evening, and we have been looking at the manifold textings that come to every believer sooner or later. And I want to talk to you tonight about three true, born-again saints with permanent, physical infirmities. And when I say permanent, I mean that. Something that's going to stay with you to the end of your days. And when I say physical, I mean physical. When I say infirmity, I mean infirmity. You see, let's get this quite clear. That there are thousands of true, born-again, God-bought believers on this planet at this moment, and they're blind. There are thousands of blind saints. You'll get them in every part of the world. And you'll get them almost in every denomination. Now, that's a physical infirmity, and for them it is permanent. And we'll go into talking about faith and all the rest of it. And of course, we're bound to know that there are also thousands, and thousands on the top of thousands, who are deaf. We've got some people almost deaf in this meeting. And while you yelp about me helping sometimes, they bless God for me. One of them said to me the other day, what are we going to do when you die? For a half of them that come, we can't heal them. Oh, there's always somebody in the meeting who just can't hear as well as me. So you just think about that for the moment or two. But there are thousands of God's people who are not only suffering from the physical affliction of blindness, but deafness. Thousands of them. And there are thousands who are suffering from dumbness. Yes, there are so many afflictions in all. And you know as well as I do, there are people who have heart trouble, and there are people who have lung trouble, and people who have kidney trouble, and people who have liver trouble. Yes, there are a great many physical infirmities. And we're going to talk about tens, thousands of them with permanent physical infirmities. And we're going to point out this evening that it's possible to be born with a physical infirmity. Of course, you would know that, wouldn't you? John Galston answered, when our Lord Jesus was passing by, he saw a man who was blind from birth. No problems about that. There was a blind baby born into that home. And you know, I can remember a day not so very far back, and I had called in to see a lady, oh, maybe thirty miles from here. They'd had a little baby for a week or two. And she was showing me the little baby boy, and I cuddled him on my knee for a moment or two. And I look at babies, look at their feet and their hands and their ears and all the rest of it. And I noticed this wee fellow was blind. But she didn't. She just hadn't caught that on yet. And I tried in every way, and I was sure of it. I took his body up to God, and I said, come on up to God. I said, you know, if I were you, I'd take that wee fellow into the doctor and have him tested, because I'm going to shock you when I say this. I said, shake her hand a bit. He says, you know, she's going to have to send her a letter, but you'd better take her in. You'll have to say something about this. Say you're going to take her in to see the doctor about some injection or something. Oh, it's a couple of stories short, he was gone. And it's a terrible thing to a mother, you know, first baby, and you know how she cuddles him. Love him. And when he's born with this infirmity, there are babies who are born under death, and there are babies who are born under me. Because there is not only deathness, and blindness, and dumbness, and blindness. Somehow when somebody's born with a physical infirmity like that, and they grew up with it, you know, they begin to manage pretty well, and they know just how to go about things, and they get used with it, and they live, oh, many of them, to overcome and to challenge. But the best of them that overcomes and gets victory and challenge, in their time moments, they'll tell you, there are times when they sit alone in the hearse, and wish to God that we're free of this thing. And they're depressed, you know. And there are others who are contented. You see, the man that was laid after Jesus was laid at the temple every morning, this book says he was laid from his mother's womb. Make no mistake about that now. And then we're going to find out this evening that it is possible that later on in life that a physical infirmity may be yours. And that's a deeper problem. Because if you could see for fifty years and enjoy yourself and all the rest of it, and then suddenly you find that you're going blind and you become blind. Well, that's a different thing. It shows you've become blind in little life for little life. Remember, it's a great problem to them. You know that Jacob was a good age when God touched the hollow of his heart. And this book says, Jacob held him on his heart for the rest of his days. So it's as God that did that, but you can't do all this. This part would start to mean a lot just now. And you know that Samson was quite a man, and had done it twice for God. Before the first time he got the hold of him and put him through idols. Oh yes, I owe you that. And we're going to find that Paul was there in the middle of the evening when the thorn in his flesh was given to him, lest he would be exalted to death. And you know there are some of us when we go through life and we scarcely have an infirmity at all, and it's very hard for us to get the grasp of. Have a look at Deuteronomy chapter 34 for a moment while I show you this. The book of Deuteronomy, and we're at chapter 34, and here's what it says about Moses. Deuteronomy 34, and at verse 7 it says, As Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. He was quite a man you know. It was just that God forced a chapter on him, he could have went on for a while physically speaking. He didn't need glasses or anything like that, his eye was not dim. And at a hundred and twenty years of age, his natural force, not abated. He had none of these physical infirmities that we're talking about this evening. So we've got to sit down and take note that others have them, if we're going to learn this evening at all. And I want to talk to you first of all about Mephibosheth, as you can see in your notes, who was lame and brought his feet and had a permanent physical infirmity through the fall. Can I take a moment to tell you that he was Jonathan's son. And I think you know the love that Jonathan and David had for one another. And I want to sort of speak a moment or two about that this evening, because I hear a lot of claptrap on the TV about homosexuals taking this story and applying it in a way that it should never be at last. Let's go through the second book of Samuel and up the first claptrap, please. The second book of Samuel and we're at the first claptrap. And you remember that Jonathan and Saul, his father, or Saul and Jonathan, they were both fleeing the way up on Mount Gilboa. And you know, this really touched David's heart. He was heartbroken. And in the second book of Samuel and at the first chapter, David lamented over their death. Verse 17. Second Samuel 1, verse 17. And David lamented with rich lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan, his son. And we needn't read it all. Look at verse 23. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives. This is a part of the lamentation. And in their death they were not divided. They were swift of an eagles. They were stronger than lions, saying, Ye doctors of Israel, weep over Saul who clothed you in scarlet with others he liked, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? And then he lamented specially over Jonathan. O Jonathan! Thou art straying in mine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been unto me. Thine love to me was wonderful, passing the love of woman. I want you to get that. Because I happen to know an old fellow who pretended to be saved and came into a certain meeting and made himself friendly with a young boy and started to tell him the story of Jonathan and David. How they loved one another. And how Jonathan's love was really wonderful, passing the love of woman, as he was reading into the sternum Ten feet of his knocker! And the other night on the TV I saw a lot of this going on in churches with ministers, with wee fellows. This is homosexuality. Men with men working it out with his own fingers. And I want to just knock it for six just now because there is more such projection in this book of that. Let's go back to 1 Samuel chapter 18, please. 1 Samuel chapter 18 And if you read a word or two in chapter 17 I think you'll get it perfectly clear. We're at 17, 1 Samuel, verse 65 And whom Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine and that is against Goliath he said unto Abner, the captain of the host Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thou hast called this, O king, I come at thee. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son this crippling is. And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Bethlehemite. And it came to pass when he, David, had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan was lit with the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And I'm trying to emphasize the word soul because it was the soul of Jonathan that was lit with the soul of David. And I want to tell you something in Romans chapter 1 just now. Let's go through this letter to the Romans and without the first passage. I think it's worth doing this just now because I think young people need to get something to counteract the error and the iniquity and the corruption that the devil is trying to even bring into churches. Before writing to the Romans in chapter 1 it said in verse 20 For the invisible things of him, the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen. You see if you look up this mighty, gigantic, super wonderful creation and see all these planets moving in their orbits round the sun and keeping time for the very second as they go year by year I think you're bound to come to the conclusion there is a God. And in fact this is one of the things that has happened to all the astronauts. Every one of them has been persuaded that there is a God. I don't think you could sail about the heavens without knowing that. The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that remain even if you say the power and Godhead so that they are without excuse. You see sometimes when people come to argue with me they seem to think that mankind started as a heathen in the jungle in the dark. Don't ever let them get that over on you. You know man didn't start as a heathen in the jungle you know. No he started in the garden with God. He knew everything about Him too and talked to Him too. They're without excuse. Look at verse 21. Because that's when they knew God. You see these early beings on this planet they knew God. But when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither was thankful. But became vain in their imagination and their foolish hearts was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools. And I see that almost all the time on the TV. Yes they profess to be wise but they're really fools. Now watch this. They went a bit further than this and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image. Made like to corruptible man and then to birds and four foot of beasts and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. To dishonor their bodies. Between themselves. Ah that's not their fault. That's their body. And don't dare to lead in the folly of fellows and beggars. Something that's not there. These two their souls were not. That's what almost happened. And they dishonored them. Their own bodies working that which is on India. It's in this book you know. Well I want to get this for you correctly now. For this cause. We're at verse 24. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. To dishonor their own bodies. Between themselves. Who changed the truth of God into a lie. And must have conserved the creature more than the creator. Who is blessed forever. Amen. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections. For even a woman. Oh yes. Don't let this put it all on the man's side. For even though women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. Oh that's a shocking, spooky moment. Oh yes. In my small lifetime. Women have come in and sat on your chest. And said that they had legs of animals. Oh do you want me to go on? There was more on the back of this whole head. A leg down here. And all this old world. And all. A woman lying down with an animal. Oh this happened before. Don't go blushing. You're living in this world. And it's time you knew about it. It seems righteous to try to weasel their way into a meeting. To destroy the folks. Yes. It is. Verse 26. For this cause God gives them up unto vile affections. For even though women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men leaving the natural use of a woman. Grounding their own lusts one toward another. Kneeling with men wishing that which is unseemly. You're not trying to tell me that God is blessing this now are you? Say an old fellow with a gown and a collar on the other night on the TV. Saying God bless us all. I tell you he doesn't know this. That sinful. That virtue. That which is unseemly. That is absolutely corrupt. Let's get the hold of that. Now I want you to go to 1 Corinthians. And we're at the 6th chapter. I want you to get this. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. Now here's Paul asking these questions that he can ask. Verse 9. 1 Corinthians 6 verse 9. He says in the Corinthians. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Then he comes closer to the ascendant. He says be not deceived. Neither fornicators. Nor idolaters. Nor adulterers. Nor effeminates. But what victory. Nor abusers of themselves with mankind. He's touching this terrible thing now. Nor thieves. Nor covetous. Nor drunkards. Nor revilers. Nor extortioners. Shall inherit the kingdom of God. But the homosexuals here now. You're not on your way to heaven. You're on your way to hell. The devil has blocked you. And as you're trying to read things into this booklet. David's love for Jonathan. And Jonathan's love for David. I'm afraid the devil has blinded you. Just to remember that. You get mixed up in it. Now I'll tell you this. You're not saved at all. You'll not inherit the kingdom of God. You'll be damned if you don't watch. You hear this type on the TV. Sometimes you wonder whether you should keep this thing in the house or not. Let's go back to 1st Samuel. And we're at 1st Samuel 23. 1st book of Samuel. And we're at 23. And I'll need to move on a bit. I want you to see this quite clearly. Verse 16. And Jonathan's false son arose. And went to David into the woods. And strengthened his hand in God. This young prince was coming out to this shepherd boy who was being hunted. On the mountains. And he's strengthening his hand in God. And he said unto him. Fear not. For the hand that stole my father shall not find me. And thou shalt be king over this field. And I shall be not unto thee. And that also stole my father not. And they too made a covenant. Before the law. You're trying to tell me that that's kind of sexy. Making a very solemn covenant before the law. And a very solemn one at once. I think you will get something like the covenant if you go back to chapter 20. 1st Samuel. And it's chapter 20. Verse 11. And Jonathan said unto David. Come and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. And some of these dirty old men will try to read things into that. And Jonathan said unto David. O Lord God of Israel. When I have counted my father about to mother any time of the third day. And beholdeth every good told David. And I then stand not unto thee. And surely the Lord doeth to her much more to Jonathan. But if it please my father to do thee evil. Then I will surely and send thee away that thou mayest go in peace. And the Lord be with thee as he hath been with my father. And thou shalt not only quiet yet I live. Show me the kindness of the Lord that I die not. But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house forever. Know not when the Lord hath cut off the enemies of David from every one from the face of the earth. So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David. Saying let the Lord even require it at the hand of David's enemies. And Jonathan caused David to swell again because he loved him. For he loved him as he loved his own soul. You see these were two saintly characters. Even in the daily days. And it was a soul loving a soul. You see Orr and I were preaching together then. I think we preached in almost every town in this dozens of hours. We were called Jonathan and David. And many times I was asked which one of you is Jonathan and which one of you is David. Well Orr was the worst singer in the world. I don't think there was ever a worse singer in the world. He couldn't sing a note. And I would always say well if you know how Orr can sing you'll certainly know he wasn't David. So it must have been Jonathan because he could sing none. But there's one thing about he Orr and I can say this. That if the Lord blessed me at night. And people were saved as they were saved continually. The man who was my partner was behind me crying. And he was praising the Lord with his whole heart. He was a true soul. And when the Lord blessed him it was just the same with me. Oh I think it's ridiculous for me to read anything else into. But you see this covenant was made. And look at 2 Samuel. And it's chapter 4. 2nd book of Samuel. And it's chapter 4. And it's verse 4. Let's cut them down in time a little bit now. And Jonathan, Saul's son. This is the same verse. Had a son that was name of his feet. He was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan out of Jerusalem. And his house took him up and fled. And it came to pass that he made haste to flee. That he foiled. And became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. And one of the other passages says that he was lame on both his feet. And it was a permanent physical infirmity. And he got it through the fall. That's the bit I want to end today. Because sometimes you know a baby is born into this world. And it has got a permanent physical infirmity. And it has got it through the fall. You know I walked into the city hospital one day. Into the maternity part there. And I was going to see a young woman. And another young woman who knew me quite well. And I knew her quite well too. She started an uproar. She called me for everything. And she cursed God from the ceilings down. Until the doctor ran from the other side. And two nurses. And she... I said what's wrong with you? You see what we did? What we did was wrong. That you are God. So I have taken a lot of it. I said I think that you ought to know by now that your mind is rotten with venereal disease. And I've a good idea that you've got the thing. And that's when your baby got its blindness. And she just fell back in the bed. And the doctor said to me, good for you. I've just taken so much bigger of me. Because I will not allow it. And that was the truth of that. Now don't let's get that wrong. That every baby that's born blind. That that's the cause of the misoccasion it was. You see the sins of the fathers sometimes come down onto the children. Onto the third and fourth generation. And there's no mistake about that. For that goes for a lot more sins than blindness. It goes for TV and a whole lot of other things. You see the man that was born blind. In John chapter 9. The disciples came to the Lord and said. Who did sin? This man? Or his parents? That he was born by misoccasion. After all he was born blind a little baby. And the disciples said. Who did sin? This man? Say what? Say she didn't know that. And if I start on it you'll be here from the morning. Because Jacob was raffling with Enoch. Before he ever came out of the womb at all. Don't let's get into that. You see you can have a physical infirmity. And it can come to you through the fall. But I want to show you this. It's in 2nd Samuel and with chapter 9. I think I ought to do this. And here's David. He's on the throne now. And all his enemies are put down. And he's remembering the covenant that he made. With the Saul that he loved. Jonathan. And David said. Verse 1. Is there any yet that is left of the house of Saul. That I may show him kindness. For Jonathan said. And there was of the house of Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they called him unto David. The king said unto him. Ata Ziba. He said. Thy servant is he. And he. The king said. Is there not yet any of the house of Saul. That I may show kindness of God unto him. And Ziba said unto the king. Jonathan has yet a son. Which is Liam on his feet. And the king said. Where is he. And Ziba said. Unto the king. Behold. He is in the house of Mecca. The son of Amaliel. In Lodabah. And the king said. Catch him out of the house. You know. This. Settler that got this infirmity through the fall. Is being called now. Being called by an essential call. I have to go careful with some of these passages. Because the gospel is shining out of them. And I give the young fellows at the hill. Some passages to find the gospel. And this is one of them. And it is there all right. And so when he was called. Verse 6. Now again the publisher. The son of Jonathan. The son of Saul. Which comes to David. He fell on his face. He did reference. And David said. The publisher. And he answered. Behold I say. And David said unto him. Fear not. For I will surely still be countless. For Jonathan my father's son. And will restore thee all the land. Of Saul thy father. And thou shalt eat bread at my table continually. See the last verse. The king. So the publisher. Just in Jerusalem. Brought into the royal city. For he would eat bread continually. At the king's table. And would lay him on both his feet. In spite of the fall. In spite of all that can be done. In his early days. You know he was brought into the donkey house. And the banner over him was left. But we will not go on with that. I just wanted to show you that. You could get a permanent. Psychical infirmity through the fall. I don't need to read about Samson do I? You know the story don't you? Ah well he was the man of God. And there were times when he was filled with the Holy Ghost. And he did the exploits for God. And you know that. Out of the lust of his flesh. That he went down and looked after a woman called Delilah. And you know all about the story of how she trapped him. And how the Philistines came and captured him. And took out both his eyes. And that was the permanent. Psychical infirmity. And he's never going to see again. And I'll tell you. It didn't come through the fall. And I knew a man who was a man of God at one time. I knew him terribly well. Because he and I were synagogues almost on the same day. He was saved the day after me. And he was a scholar at Queen's. And had graduated the year before that. With honours. And I think he was a bachelor of science. And he was a great philosopher. But he and I although I was a chump on the street. And he was a great scholar. We met up in the meeting. And we walked the roads together. And we talked about the Lord together. And preached on the streets together. And I would say that he was a better preacher than I will ever be. Name was James Keller. And then I saw him standing in the town. Talking to this blonde woman far too often. And I knew who she was. And I cut the story short for you. He got away from the Lord. And this blonde woman. She died with TB. And a few months later he was lying on the bed with a family. And I could have told him where he got it. And when he was dying I can see him holding the blankets. And the whole cheek shook off. And they had no cure in those days. If you have got this particular plan. That the old woman on his legs called galloping consumption. Now finished. He held the blankets. He shook really. For God's sake. Turn me in the Lord. And he got this. And when you get in like that. You don't know God. No one follows. No King. No Adam. You blame yourself. It's only you to blame. Thomson had no problem surviving. Only Thomson. He won't turn into the far country. When he dies with them. And that's where he lost them. Now. Paul is quite a different character. You see. Paul has a thorn in the flesh. And it is a physical infirmity. Let's go way over to the Acts of the Apostles. And we are at chapter 14. The Acts of the Apostles. Chapter 14. And Paul's preaching. In Asia Minor. And I don't think I need to read the whole passage. Verse 19. Acts 14. Verse 19. And there came several certain Jews from Antioch, and I told you. And persuaded the people. And Hadid stoned Paul. Drew him out of the city. Supposing he had been dead. Now we read these things over far too quickly. Let's stop with Hadid stoned Paul. Now when Jews stoned you to death. It wasn't like what we see on the TV. And it will show us how he stoned you to death. You get that idea. No. Not me. You see. What happened. Is that these Jews turned around. Maybe a hundred of them. And they lifted great big stones. Maybe. Maybe. Three. Four. Eight. And they would pound them off a man's body. And another one would pound them. And another one would pound them until he was covered with a mound of stones. And then he was stoned. Now the Lord only happy with just stoning you here. They took him by the heels. And pulled him out from under this mound of stones. And took him outside the city. They believed he was dead. He got quite a beating that day. Now I want you to get the hold of that. And if you have a good Bible and they've given you the dates. I believe you can do something with this. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. Do you see this? 2 Corinthians chapter 12. And Paul's writing here. And in verse 2. He says I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago. Now if you measure back from the year that he wrote this letter 2 Corinthians. And if you measure back 14 years. It will take you to the very moment and the very spot when he was taken. Now when he was taken outside the city there. He says I knew a man in Christ above 14 years ago. Whether in the body I cannot tell. Or whether out of the body I cannot tell. God knows. Such a man caught up to the third heaven. Now let's not think. When they dragged him by the heels. And threw the dust outside the city. And left him for dead. Then you know they were not fools. They believed he was dead. Did God take the man out of the body. And take him to the third heaven? I believe He did. I believe that was the time when God took him. Up to the third heaven. Caught up to the third heaven. What an experience it must have been. Now I think it tells us something about our loved ones in heaven. Some of you here are sad about. Sometimes friends come along and say. And they are asking from the body. And the present soul and next spirit. So what is it? Well I can tell you that when your loved one is out of the body. And present with the Lord. They don't know whether they are in the body or out of the body. They cannot tell. I'm perfectly sure that his body was left outside the gate. And I'm perfectly sure that he was caught up. And I'm perfectly sure that he didn't know. Whether he was in the body or out of the body. Because that's exactly what he said. That's a mighty thing to get your mind in. For if you have a loved one in the grove. Isn't that the best thing? Aren't you such a man? And you keep to the general. Whether in the body or out of the body. I cannot tell. God knows. And the people that argue that there's only body. There's nothing else. So I have another reading of course. Whether in the body or out of the body. Must be taken care of here. It says. How that he was caught up into paradise. And heard unspeakable words. Which it is not lawful for a man to utter. You know he had stood on the golden street of heaven. This person. He had heard things. Actually Ronald Knox. The Roman Catholic scholar. Translated. He said. He had heard unspeakable secret things of God. And I accept that. Oh Knox was no fool. But I want to say this to you. You know. If one of us. Or some of the boys in Austin. Were taken to heaven. And allowed to walk around for two hours. There would be no living with him after that. Yet this man hid it for fourteen years. Hell's fast paragraph would be full. Not the middle page. All the pages. So and so. Wonderful blessing he had. He was in heaven. Might you would be getting this morning. Night and noon for the next ten years. Not this man. You're bound to see the humility of the man. But that's not what I'm after. And you must see the mystery of heaven. Now what we want to get along to is this. How that he was caught up into paradise and heard unspeakable words. And it's the great adjectives that occur. Unspeakable words. Which is not lawful for a man to utter. The fellow used to come to this meeting. And he said listen. I want you to sit down with me. And tell me all the things that call home. What was it? You know what a big deal was when I heard none of that. We take a walk every now and then. One of these nights. We get to the end. Jump in. And go down three times. And come up twice. And you'll get all the news you want. Oh that's amazing. I hadn't even got any dreams. It's unspeakable. And it's not lawful. There's no use to come and learn from me. My dear friend. Don't you get them. Some mothers do have them all right. Now. Not this. There's five. Of such and one. Will I glory. Yet of myself. I was there all right. But of myself I will not glory. But in my infirmity. I want you to know that little thing. For all I would desire to glory. I shall not be a fool. I will say the truth. Because this thing was the truth all right. But now I prepare. Lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be. Or that he heareth of me. And then it came to the point. That lest I should be exalted above measure. Through the abundance of the revelations. There was given to me a form in the flesh. The messenger of Satan to gossip me. Lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I betrothed the Lord Christ. That it might depart from me. And he said unto me. My grace is sufficient for me. For my strength is near perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I glory in my infirmity. Now I want you to get the hold of this. You see when we come to sickness. I did this like in the class for two hours one evening. Some kind of sickness in this old body. It's really satanical. You know it was the devil that cut your body. Covered them from the crown of the head to the shoulders of the feet. It was satanical. And sometimes it's ridiculous. It says in this book that God struck a certain man with an insurable disease. That is the judgment of God on him. And when you get the adage of insurable disease. You can say something whatever. If God struck him with an insurable disease would you like to argue with me? Because there's nobody going to heal him. Otherwise we'll put God wrong. That was judicial. And sometimes sickness is satanical and sometimes it's judicial. Sometimes it's functional. That's what the medical faculty call it. You know folk have notions that they have disease. All up in the mouth. I know some of the media. Every day they have a process. With problems. They don't have any weakness. You see. Cancer in the back one weekend. Cancer somewhere else the next weekend. They're here now you know. They're not pleased with me now it's over now. I'd love to rub it empty so that I could rub it over you. Yes. You know it's like the laugh. It's the way it's about there. He comes and he says. You know it was a lie in the church. And it's not open. We'll have no more bother with it. In function. Sometimes you think sickness is satanical. Sometimes it's judicial. Sometimes it's functional. Sometimes it's natural. You get old. And the old man thinks it. You grow old and you're not as good as you used to be. And that's all there is about it. But sometimes it's satanical. Sometimes it's judicial. Sometimes it's functional. Sometimes it's natural. Sometimes it's essential. You need it. That's what God thought about Paul. Ah, it wasn't a fall as they did from Paul. No, that wasn't that's why he did this. God says I'll have to give you a thorn in the flesh. Because if I don't you'll be exalted above measure. You'll not be able to really keep your balance. And Paul says that was given to me. Now it was an affliction. Therefore will I glory in my affliction. Don't make any mistakes. Some of us believe that it was to wipe out. He was nearly blind. And I think he thought that if he could only get rid of this chain then he'd be a far better man. And he thought the Lord Christ was the Lord. No, no, no, no. You've got to hold on to it. For the purpose. Now I want to get this over to you. You see this is where the devil comes in. And this is where our subject really gets alive now. Because you see if we have some infirmity through our birth then we can take it back to sin. And the devil comes in and he begins to gossip to you about your Creator. And you see if we become assisted through that fighting then the devil comes in again. And he begins to gossip to you. And he begins to gossip to you about your Redeemer. To be not a really good person for you. And you see if we have an infirmity and we have come to the conclusion that the Lord has given it to us and it's absolutely necessary for us just to keep the balance then he begins to gossip to you about your Lord. What does Lord mean? Then he begins to gossip to you about your cause. You know, who you are for the cause. And then he begins to gossip to you about your life. Because you see I've got a lot of people around me now and many have come to me and said, you know we've gone through a terrible thing. What have I done? Where did I go wrong? What did I do for all this? Nothing. Nothing that we really do of anything. The Lord sees when you live it. It needs to be we were really lost in. Now that's something. Because I want you to get the hold of that. Because that's where people become depressed, you know. But you know, you're not just going to be left out in the wilderness with this affliction in your body and with this depression in your mind. You see, the Lord comes near to you. He says, I'll tell you this. You don't know this but you couldn't get on without this affliction. I'm not taking it away. This was given to you by the wisdom of the Lord. I'll tell you a thing. I'll give you grief. My grief. That's very wonderful, you know. My grief is sufficient. You know, what a touch, you say. My grief. You know, when you begin to look at the grace of our Lord Jesus. How he stood in front of us all. I have examined this over and over again. And I can see him standing with his hands tied. And I can see the soldier clap his face. And I can see him pluck the hair. And I can see him spit into his countenance. Then I can see another one lift a bamboo cane and just strike him in the head with it. Then I can see that ugly creature plucking the tail of thorns and crushing it all down. And he never looks at the world. He's sick. Well, that's some grace. That ought to be quite sufficient for you and I. That's his grace. And if he took him to Gaddafi, he would take him to anyone. Now, I want you to get not only the touch within the text. My grief. I want you to get the sense. My grief only. I want you to get the ease. Because there's grief for you tonight. Never mind about your infirmity. I've got something. You know, there's growth for you. There's pleasantness. But you know, it's not the touch within the text It's not the touch. It's the truth within the text. My grief is the text. The truth is in the Lord's inbox. Ah, yes, it is. You see, the moment that the Lord said to him, My grief is the victory for me. Paul said, Most gladly. Therefore will I glory in my infirmity. You know, all that is that triumph. Because there's not only a touch to you. There's not only a pain to you. One believes there's somebody here. And you know, there's always something wrong with you. And it's going to be always there. There's times you get caught up with it. And there's times when you sit alone and you wish you were resident. And there's many times when you pray. And there'll be a brother from the brethren and down with me the other day on crutches. And he says, you know, so things are through the crutches down. And I'll just touch my legs and I'll say, In the name of Jesus Christ, go out of me. Of course it doesn't go out. Ah, no. Therefore good. I said, brother, you want to touch the other way. Touch up there. It's grace for us. Grace to make me go on on the crutches. Grace to make me do a wee job for the Lord that nobody else but me can do. Grace for us. Then the devil will come in and he'll bust you through the crutches. Oh, he'll push you around. He'll strike things through you. He'll talk to your mind. He'll depress you. He'll box you. He'll house you. He'll distract you. He'll disturb you. Tell him this. Tell him. Grace to the crutches. You can run your day. I tell you, friends, every time we can be more than conquered through him. Let us take one verse of 711. The second verse. What? Though all my earthly journey bringeth naught but weary hours, I'm in draught before life's rose of thorns I find instead of flowers. 711. Just one verse, please. The second one. 711. Though all my earthly journey bringeth naught but weary hours, I'm in draught before life's rose of thorns I find instead of flowers. I'm in draught before life's rose of thorns I find Lord, we vow to thank thee for thy service. We bless thee that thou art the answer to our every need. Part us in thy fear with thy blessing and take us to our homes and safe places for thy mercy. Amen.