In this sermon, the preacher discusses the story of Jesus walking on water and how it relates to facing storms and difficulties in life. The disciples were afraid when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, thinking it was a spirit. However, Jesus reassured them, saying, "Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid." The preacher emphasizes the importance of having faith and watching for Christ's arrival in the midst of storms and challenges. He encourages listeners to trust that God measures out everything that comes into their lives and to set the Lord always before them, just like a traveler would set up a picture of their family in a new place.

This morning we would like to take this opportunity to have our brother Phillip from Tennessee, Phillip Rudolph, to come and share the word with us. And I think they have a song they'd like to sing as a family. So brother, you come at this time and then after the song just go ahead and share with us the message. God is late on your heart. God bless you as you come. I'm very happy to be here with my family. I did not expect to be preaching on our little family vacation, but brother Aaron asked if I would share and I felt like it was the right thing to do. I'm happy to be here with my family. This is part of my family. I have eight children and these are the three oldest and my wife Miriam. I've been here many times when my family has not been and I'm glad that they can meet you all and you can meet them. I wasn't prepared. I think my family neither was prepared to sing this morning, but when it came up that you had a family share time, I sent my son Timothy to the van and said go get our song book. We'll sing a song before the message. I would like to sing this song in praise of the lovely name of Jesus wonderful to hear, wonderful to hear bringing hope and peace to all who seek me. It's the lovely name of Jesus. Evermore the same, evermore the same. What a lovely name. What a name, the name of Jesus. Reaching higher far than the brightest star. Sweeter songs they sing in heaven. Let the world proclaim what a lovely name. Through his name there's wondrous power. Power to redeem, power to redeem, making sinners clean. By his power he cleansed them of their sin. Open blinded eyes, open blinded eyes, caused the dead to rise. What a name, the name of Jesus. Reaching higher far than the brightest star. Sweeter songs they sing in heaven. Let the world proclaim what a lovely name. He'll return in clouds of glory. Saints of every race, saints of every race shall behold his face. With him enter heaven's city. Ever to acclaim, ever to acclaim what a lovely name. What a name, the name of Jesus. Reaching higher far than the brightest star. Sweeter songs they sing in heaven. Let the world proclaim what a lovely name. Our gracious father in heaven, we do bless your name this morning again. What a name, a lovely name, the name of Jesus. Dear father, I confess. Lord, I love you. You are dear to me. Father, you're yet more lovely than what I see. Open my eyes, Lord. Open our hearts, Lord. Father, I pray that among your children there would be an increase of love and devotion. Father, that we would look upon you with hearts of yearning, hearts of affection. Lord, that we would not be dutisome servants, Lord, with grudging attitudes, Father, but that we would love to love you. We would love to serve you. We would love to obey you. Father, I pray that you would open our ears to hear the word this morning, yet more of the word. Help me, Father, to be able to share and minister grace and strength to this congregation of your people. Thank you for them. Thank you, Father, for each one here that you have redeemed, that you have called to be your very own. Thank you for them. Lord, I pray for those who are suffering, those who are hurting, those who are looking to you for help. Lord, don't let them go unhelped. Please, Lord, minister to each heart. Pray, Father, that you would bless your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I would like to speak to you again from the book of Psalms. We had an opening from one of the Psalms. I would like if you would open your Bibles again to the book of Psalms, this time Psalm 16. My title for this meditation is The True Blessedness of the Child of God. The True Blessedness of the Child of God. My heart would be to help you to realize that if you are a child of God, that you are in a place of blessedness. It's a blessing being a child of God. It's not a burden. It's not a burden. It's not something that says, oh, I've got to obey God. I've got to do God's will. But it's a blessing being one of God's children. Is that your attitude this morning? Is it? Are you happy to be a child of God? Are you glad to be a child of God? You know, that would reveal a lot about you. You would stand up now and tell me, what is it that makes you glad? That's a very revealing question. What makes you glad? What is it? Is it whenever your income's up and your debts are down? When you're healthy? When you make a decision and it's the right decision? What makes you glad? The disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. It says, and the disciples saw Him and they were glad. They were glad to see the Lord. Well, I'm glad this morning to be a child of God. I'm thankful that the Lord called me and had mercy on me. I'm thankful for that. I'm glad to be one of God's children. It's a good thing to be one of His children. Psalm 16 and verse 6 is my text. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. Let's back up and read verses 5 to the end of the Psalm. The Lord is the portion. There's that word portion again from the opening. The Lord is the portion. I always think of Benjamin when I read the word portion in the Bible. Remember when Joseph had his brothers come into the feast and he commanded that a portion be given to each of them. And they sat down at the king's table and each was given a portion and Benjamin was given a double portion. I can just see young Benjamin's eyes and his expression, you know. What kind of plate do you get at a king's table? Not a piece of toast. I can just see these plates loaded down with all the good things that the king could provide. Now, in Pharaoh's house and then Benjamin's portion, a double portion. It must have been a grand platter that was set before him. Well, David said, the Lord is my portion. I wonder what that means. The Lord is my portion. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. He's on my plate and in my cup. Can I say that without being irreverent? He is my portion and my cup. Thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord who hath given me counsel. My reigns also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad and my glory rejoiceth. My flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Well, David, I believe, wrote this of himself. We're going to think about David and why he wrote this. And then I want to think about you and I and maybe I could encourage you to write Psalm 16 for yourself. I, by nature, am somewhat of a somber person. I usually walk around and look on the dark side of things. That's the way I am by nature, my personality. And I need a good dose of Psalm 16 in my life. Not often I count myself to be realistic. You know, some other people are idealistic, but I look at myself and I say, well, I'm a realistic person. I know there's troubles and I know they're coming my way and I just sort of expect them and it makes me just a little somber, just a little dark. And I need Psalm 16. I need to meditate upon the true blessedness that is mine because I'm a child of God. I need to meditate upon that. Well, David wrote this of himself, I believe. This was his testimony. He said in verse 5, the Lord is my portion. Others inherit this. Others inherit wealth. Others inherit a good name. Others inherit property. But David said, the Lord is my portion. He's the portion of mine inheritance. The Lord Himself is mine inheritance. And then in verse 6, our text, he says, the limes have fallen unto me in pleasant places. And I would like to explain this figure. What are these limes that have fallen unto me in pleasant places? What limes is David talking about? You know, what do you think of when you think of limes falling? Well, we don't use that expression, do we? But you know about surveying, don't you? These limes are surveying limes. And some translations say that. And what David is saying is that the Lord surveyed out my portion for me, mine inheritance. And David did, like you do if you own land. Do you ever go out and walk around it? Maybe it's just an acre, but you have it landscaped and you have your garden and you go out and you walk around it and you're happy maybe with the land that you have. With your farm, with your garden, with your flowerbed, with your kitchen, with your house. You look at it and you say, well, this is nice. I'm happy for this. Well, David looked at the portion that God measured out for him. And David said, the place that the Lord has given to me is a pleasant place. The place that God has measured out for me is a pleasant place. This is David's testimony. We'll come back to it. Verse 7, I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel. The Lord has guided me with counsel. He instructs me in the night season. Verse 8, I have set the Lord always before me. I like to think about that in using the picture of a person who's traveling. Maybe he's going to a place and he's going to be there for some time. And like I like to do and maybe some of you do, you get to where your room is and you open up your suitcase and maybe you take a picture of your family. And that's the first thing. You just sort of set it up on the dresser there beside the bed or close to where you're going to be. Well, I'll set my family picture right here. Now, my shoes and my clothes, you know, they can be in the suitcase under the bed. But the first thing I do is I take a picture of my wife, my children, and I lay it up someplace where I can see it real good. Well, that's what David says. He says, I set the Lord before me. Whenever I find myself in any situation, the first thing I unpack is my Lord. And I set Him before me. In this situation, right here is the Lord, my God, at my right hand. The Lord is at my right hand. When I'm in danger, when I'm in need, when I'm threatened, I'll not be moved because the Lord is at my right hand. Therefore, my heart is glad. Because the Lord is set before me, my heart is glad. Not, not because my circumstances are just right am I glad. Not because I'm not tempted. Not because I'm not discouraged. Not because things are going just the way I want them. But because the Lord is set before me. Because He is at my right hand. Therefore, for this reason, my heart is glad. And that's why David could write this testimony and think about it. Chased, threatened, hunted like an animal, traps lay before him. His own family betrayed him. The kingdom was taken from him. But David, imagine David, in the midst of all of the trials, he was abused, he was misused, he was misrepresented. Saul hated him. Saul hunted him. His own family rose up against him. There was trouble in the kingdom. But David, his testimony was, I have looked at the portion that God has given to me and it's a pleasant portion. It's a pleasant place that the Lord has surveyed out for me, that the Lord has measured out for me. Well, David, what are you going to do when you get to the grave? Are you going to still think that's part of your pleasant portion? Yes, that's what verse 10 is about. You're not going to leave my soul in the grave. My flesh, verse 9, is going to rest, when it's in the grave, it's going to rest in hope. The grave itself is part of the portion that God had marked out for David. And David said, when my body is put in the grave, my soul is in the resting place of the departed, he says, even then I'm going to hope in God. Because he knew that God would not leave him in the grave. Verse 11, Thou wilt show me the path of life. In Thy presence is fullness of joy, and at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. And if I could just apply that here, before I get to the end of the message. There's no joy if you don't realize that you're in a blessed place. Either God isn't present with you or else you're blind to His presence. One of the two. Because knowing that God is with me, that I'm in His presence, that brings fullness of joy. Christ is with me, my God is with me, my Savior is beside me. This is David's testimony. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage. This is also speaking of Christ. If we would read on through the Bible and come to the New Testament, we would find that these words are Christ's testimony too. Christ is speaking here. He was despised and rejected of man. A man of sorrows. Christ was acquainted with grief. Yet there was a holy joy that remained in Christ, that was in Him. Many times in the New Testament we find the words that Christ rejoiced. Nowhere does the Bible say He laughed. It doesn't say that. I don't know if He did or not. But we know He rejoiced. Christ rejoiced. He rejoiced. He lived with a crown of thorns upon His head, yet Christ rejoiced. Even while He was being crucified, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. He despised the shame. Christ had no place to lay His head. He was like a root out of dry ground. He was despised of men. He was spoken against. He was called a bastard. He was told that He cast out devils in the name of Beelzebub. He was mocked. He was spit upon. But He rejoiced. Christ Jesus lived in a place of joy. Well, I wonder, I just wonder today, whether you can join with David in Christ and confess that the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. I say amen to verse 6. This is my testimony. As I look back upon my life and I see where I am right now, and I look at the place that God has surveyed out, He marked out the boundaries of my life, of Philip Rudolph's life. When I look at what God has brought into my life, my testimony is that it's surely I am in a pleasant place. I'm in a pleasant place. I have sorrows. You have sorrows. I have temptations. You have temptations. I fall under temptation. You fall under temptation. I have weakness. You have weakness. We even have sorrows that the world doesn't know anything about. We do. We have sorrows that the world never experiences. Yet, verse 6 is true. For the child of God, God has measured out a pleasant place for us. The child of God has a calm and an upspringing well of joy. The Lord, our Lord, our Savior, makes us able to say, I have a goodly heritage. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places. That's the testimony of the child of God. We need to understand that. We need to rejoice in the place that God has given to us. Proverbs 3 and 17, it says of wisdom that her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. And if you're walking in wisdom's ways, and walking in wisdom's ways leads us into heartaches sometimes. It takes us through places of grief. But the Scripture says that her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. And God says that this is the nature of wisdom's ways. Well, do you acknowledge that? Are you willing to bow your heart this morning before God and say, God, my attitude has been wrong. I have been bitter. I have been sorrowful. I have been complaining. But you have told me that the way of wisdom, the way you have given me to walk in, it's a pleasant way. And I've been complaining about the way instead of rejoicing in the way. The pleasures of the unconverted are false pleasures. They're like, Proverbs says, the crackling of thorns under a pot. They crackle, they burn bright for a minute, but they don't last. They just sort of flame up and make a little noise and make a little light, but soon they're gone. They're like thorns under a pot. You know, with hell laying at the end of the unconverted way, what pleasantness is in that way? And I know that many, many unconverted, many, many that are not the children of God, millions of people think they're enjoying life. I'm having a good time. And maybe this morning you're unconverted. You don't know Christ. You think, well, I'm having a good time. I'm having a blessed time. How can anyone have a blessed time with hell at the end of the way? You know, your pleasure, if this is true of you, your pleasure is like thorns underneath a pot that are ignited and it flashes up in a moment. Hebrews says the pleasures of sin are what? They're just for a season. Just for a season. And there is pleasure in sin. There is pleasure in sin. People have fun in sin, but it's just for a season. It's not like the pleasures of the child of God. It's not like the blessedness of the child of God. I like to think of the narrow way and the broad way. The broad way, the broad gate, it's the gate where the unconverted enter in. And they start on this very broad way and this very broad road and the broad gate and they enter in and they say, it's wide, I'm free, it's a pleasant way, it's a high way. But for the unconverted, that way becomes more narrow and more narrow and more narrow and more restricted and more of a burden until it squeezes that person into hell. It's an ever-decreasing, narrowing way. But for the child of God, we enter in at a straight gate, a narrow gate, and we walk on a narrow way, but it's an ever-increasing way. It's ever-increasing in its breadth and in its glory. It leads to what? It leads to life. And I believe that David understood that. My way, somewhat restricted, it's constricted now, but it's an ever-increasing way. Well, for the unconverted, though the pleasures of sin might be for a season, they soon will give way to anguish and sorrow and grief and that forever. I'd like to answer the question, why is it that the child of God can say that the place that God has measured out for me is a pleasant place? Why can the child of God say with David, the lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places, yea, I have a goodly heritage? Our joy begins with the joy of having our sins forgiven. Turn to Matthew 9. Our joy begins with the joy of having sins forgiven. Matthew 9, this is the beginning of pleasantness. If you realize the blessing of having sins forgiven, taken away, taken all away, all of them taken away, if you understand that, that in Christ you are forgiven, that is the beginning of understanding that my place is a place of pleasantness, of blessedness. In Matthew 9 and verse 2, we have the man sick of the palsy that was lying on the bed and Jesus saw their faith and said to the man sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, be of good cheer. Well, what did he say next? Why did Jesus say, Son, you're lying there on the bed, you're sick of the palsy, you can't walk, you need to be brought to me. Why should I be of good cheer, sir? Why should I rejoice? I'm here on this sick bed. Well, do you see what the source of his joy was? Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. Thy sins be forgiven thee. And all true joy starts right here. Knowing that my sins have been forgiven. That's the beginning of true joy. There's no joy like this. You know, whenever I think, when I'm in a time of darkness, like the psalm that was read in the opening, I have titled that psalm, A Believer Down in the Depths. And believers are down in the depths sometimes, but when I'm in the depths and I realize that I'm in this place of darkness, and I don't know to turn to the right or to the left, to stop, to go, where should I go? God, what do you want me to do? What's your will for me here? But I always find joy in knowing that my sins are forgiven. It seems like in times like that that Jesus says to me, Son, be of good cheer. Just go ahead and rejoice. Go ahead and be glad, because your sins are forgiven. As far as the east is from the west. This is the beginning of joy. My sins, which were many, which were great, they are forgiven. Luke 10, verse 17, here Jesus sent out 70 of his followers, and they went out, they preached, and now they returned. We have them coming back in Luke 10, 17. And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. And I can just hear him say, yes, that's why we're joyful, Jesus. That's why we're rejoicing, because we did tread on serpents and scorpions, and we had power over the enemy, and indeed nothing did hurt us. Can you imagine how they must have been like a balloon poked with a pin? Verse 20, notwithstanding in this rejoice not. Strange word. Jesus said, now just wait, wait, I don't want you rejoicing in that, because you know why. Because sometimes you will be hurt. And if your rejoicing is in not being hurt, then when you're hurt, you're not going to be rejoicing. It's amazing that Jesus said in this circumstance, don't rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. Do you see how different Jesus was? Jesus said, your joy should be in understanding that my name is written in heaven. That's the reason for my joy. Not that I'm able to say to this demon, go, and he goes, and to this spirit, stop, and he stops. And not because of that, but because my name is written in heaven. Do you see, my joy is plugged into a different receptacle. Maybe different than some of the ones you're plugged into. Where are you getting your joy from? Well, you say, well, I get my joy because of the victory that God's given me over. Well, what are you going to do when God for your good says, I'm going to just hold back the victory and you're going to have a time of darkness. You're going to spend some time in the valley of the shadow of death. Then where are you going to get your joy? Where are you going to get it then? It's not going to come from your circumstances. Circumstances are so fickle. They rise, they fall, they come, they go. You're up and they're down, and when they're up, you're down, however it is. You know how it is. If your joy is coming from the pleasantness of your circumstances, you're not going to be very pleasant sometimes. My joy comes from knowing that my sins are forgiven. That my name is written in heaven. And then, I believe, if you see that, you're able to say the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, though I am sorely tempted, though I stumble and fall, though I see my neediness, though I taste the grievousness of my betrayal, of my denial of the Lord, though I go out and weep bitterly, I know that my name is written in heaven, and therefore, I'm able to turn my face to God and say, God, the place you have given to me is a pleasant place. It's a pleasant place. Any place where I am, and I realize my sins are forgiven, it's a pleasant place. My name is written in heaven. It's a pleasant place. Romans chapter 15. A strange verse, a verse that I hardly understand. Romans 15 and verse 13. Now the God of hope, now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace. In what? In what? In believing. Now, wait a minute. We read verse 13 this way. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in experiencing. But it doesn't say that, does it? It doesn't say that God will fill you with joy and peace in experiencing a trouble-free day. It doesn't say that. It says that I can be filled with joy and peace through believing. I didn't say what that means yet. But what do you believe in? What do you hope in, the thing you have or the thing you don't have? You don't need faith for the thing that's in your hand. You need faith when it's not in your hand, right? You need faith when you don't got it. You need faith when you can't reach out and touch it. And when you look to the right and the left and it's just dark all around you and it's difficult and you're being tempted and you feel like throwing up your hands and saying, I quit. God says if you will believe, if you'll believe you'll have joy. In believing, not in receiving. In believing. There's joy in believing. In believing. Our joy in blessedness is not as the world's joy. The world's joy depends on good circumstances. The world's joy depends on my life, my situation, my family, my finances, my health being just right. Then I can have joy. But our joy, the child of God's joy, is through believing. Believing what God has said. Believing what God has said about my sins forgiven. Believing what God has said about His sovereign control in my life. In believing that all things work together for good. For me, His child. And the Christian life is a paradox. Think of repentance. Repentance. God commands us to repent. Repentance is like dying. You say, is there any pleasantness in repentance? Is there any pleasantness in mourning over sin? Is there any pleasantness in mortifying the flesh? Is there any pleasantness in plucking out right eyes and chopping off right hands? Is there any pleasantness in suffering? Is there any pleasantness in persecution? I think that many, many children of God have a wrong attitude about the things that God commands. You know, if God commands you to repent, you ought to rejoice in that. God has given you a privilege to repent. Repentance is a gracious gift that God gives to us. Can you imagine how horrible it would be to be just bound up in sin and not able to get free? How wretched that would be. Can you imagine how awful it would be to be fallen into some sin and not have a broken heart about it? You think about wretchedness. That would be a wretched place. To be wrapped up in the flesh and in the sin and being duped by the devil and have a proud heart. Have a heart that's strong and stiff and cold and insensitive. That would be a wretched place to be in, wouldn't it? If God breaks your heart, it's part of the pleasant place that God has for you. If God says, come, my daughter, repent, that's part of God's pleasantness for you. He is bidding you come. He is offering you repentance. And we ought to rejoice. We ought to rejoice. Do you realize? Maybe you don't. Do you realize that there are millions of people who are in sin today and they don't have a twitch of conscience? They just, like the Bible says, they enter into wickedness with both hands. Well, what happens when you do it? Huh? Your conscience screams, right? Your conscience rises up and says, No, don't, this is grievous against God. And you say, oh, I just don't like that conscience doing that to me. You ought to rejoice in a conscience that does that to you. You ought to give thanks for that. That's a gift that many don't have. Matthew 14. Matthew 14. Here's another, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. Matthew 14.24 The disciples were sent away while Jesus went up to a mountain to pray. He was with the multitudes. And He put the disciples on a boat and says, Go across the sea. I'll get the multitude to go and then go to the mountain and pray. So the disciples were in the ship. Verse 24 In the midst of the sea, tossed with waves. Right out in the middle. One of the hard things about being in the middle of the sea is that you don't know if you should go east or west or north or south. If you're a little bit to one side, you know one side's a little closer. But when you look here, you say, Well, I don't think I can make it that way and that way doesn't look any closer either. That's a difficult place to be in. That's where they were. And the wind was contrary. Every time they decided, Well, we're going to go east, the wind blew from the east. And the wind was contrary to them. And in the fourth watch of the night. When's that? When's that? Is that, you know, about 10 o'clock in the night or 11 o'clock or 12 o'clock? When's the fourth watch in the night? That's right before morning, right? That means that you were there all night long and, you know, midnight came and then 3 o'clock. I would say it was about 4.30 in the morning. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit. And they cried out for fear. They were afraid. They were frightened. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. Be of good cheer. It is I. Be not afraid. How can I say when I'm in the storm that, lo, God has measured out a good portion for me, including this storm? And I personally am under the conviction you can disagree with me if you want to. You have that liberty. I don't know what you'll do if you do disagree, but I guess that's with you, not with me. But I personally believe that the storms that I face in my life are part of the portion that God has measured out for me. I believe that. I believe that everything that God has surveyed out for me, I receive it from God. Now, I know that maybe some of you, you may think, Well, God gave me this one, the devil gave me that one. I don't believe that. I believe that everything in my life comes to me through the sovereign hand of Almighty God. I believe that. And when the storm is dark, and the waves are boisterous, and the wind is contrary, I believe that God has brought that storm into my life for my good. And if you don't believe that, I don't know how in the world you'll ever handle a storm. You know, storms are just really nasty things otherwise. But you know, if you can come to the place where you believe that God is sovereign, and God has measured this out for me, and I'm just going to wait, and in the fourth watch, Jesus is going to come to me in this storm, then you can have joy. You know, you can actually learn to live that way, where it's very dark and very difficult, and you begin to say, well, Christ is going to come somewhere to me in this storm. I wonder where He's going to come from. I wonder when He's going to come. But I believe He's going to come. Learn, learn to face the storms and the difficulties with the attitude that this is one of the things that God has brought into my life for my good. And as I wait and tarry, and I wait and I tarry, that I believe that Jesus Christ will come to me in this storm. In the fourth watch. He will come to me. Learn to watch for Christ's arrival. When you're sick, when you face persecution, when you are tempted, sorely tempted, when you have fallen, you're repentant, and you're broken, but you're broken. Learn to watch for Christ's arrival in the fourth watch. Learn to watch for His arrival. Faith brings good cheer. Somewhere Christ will come to me in this. Lord, I believe that you measure out everything that comes to me. That's why I disagree, at least to some degree, with the mentality, you know, that I wake up in the morning and my head hurts. I got a headache. And what's the first thing you do? Do you start rebuking the devil or do you start thanking God? What's your response to your headache in the morning? Do you start chasing off the devil or do you... Why don't you receive that as part of the portion that God has measured out for you? Now you say, well, what if it came from the devil? Well, if you thank God for it and the devil brought it, he'll take it back real quick. Because the last thing he wants you to do is kneel down and worship. He doesn't want you to do that. Now I know, I know that sin is of the devil and temptation and sickness. But my God is bigger than that. My God is bigger than that. He is so big. He is so sovereign. He is so powerful that I as His child can thank Him in the midst of horrific circumstances and give Him thanks and worship Him and thank Him. And while my head is stuffing, say, Lord, I believe that You want to minister Christ to me in this. Where can I find You in this headache? Where can I find You? I'm expecting You to come real soon to me in this. You just ponder that. That'll give you something this afternoon to ponder. What do you do? First of all, when something ill comes into your life, there's a verse somewhere in the Old Testament. I didn't find it. I just thought of it where Israel was told when they went into the enemy's land and they were conquering the enemy that they weren't supposed to curse the enemy's gods. Now, you would think that would be a very fun and fulfilling thing to do. Here's an old idol and you're conquering the land and you go in here and here's this image. Why not kick dirt in his face? That would be sort of... God says, don't do that. I don't want you doing that. And I'm afraid that too many times God's children do that when God wants to humble them and break them and strengthen them and get them turned around and correct something in their life. And then we just start blaming the devil when the Scripture says that all things work together for my good. As a child of God, it's for my good. And Lord, I receive it from You. I receive it from You and I'm thankful that You're my God and that You and Your wisdom, You moved the boundary line out a little farther than what I would have to include this trouble. See, if I would have measured it out, I would have, you know, zigzagged the line around every trial and every trouble and every temptation. Can you imagine what our surveying would look like if we did it? But God says, no, you need that. We're going to run the line straight through that and you're going to have a good portion of that trial in your life for your good. For your good. And if we have that attitude, we'll stop fighting. We'll stop fighting. And when you stop fighting, then you can start rejoicing. And when you start rejoicing, Christ comes. Wait for His arrival. Many, many times when Christians say, well, I'm fighting the devil, I'm afraid they're fighting God. And you don't want to do that. We are His children. If you're a child of God, you're His. You belong to Him. God is the one who measures out the boundaries of my life. I will not. I will not concede that the devil, he sticks in a couple acres here and a couple acres there. I don't believe that. The Lord is the one who surveys out my plot, my place in life. Well, Peter says, 1 Peter 1, we might as well turn to this one too. 1 Peter 1 and verse 6. 1 Peter 1, 6. Where in? That's another word that we don't use often in our vocabulary, is it? Where in? Where in? You probably don't speak that way, do you? What does that word mean? Well, think about it backwards. In where? In where? Where are we in? Where are we located that we're to do this? Well, verse 7, in the trial of your faith. When you're in the trial of your faith, greatly rejoice. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold or varied temptations. Greatly rejoice. Well, how can I greatly rejoice, Peter, when I am in a place of manifold temptation? How can I greatly rejoice when my joy comes in understanding that God is sovereign and that this is coming to me from God for my good? Then I can rejoice. My God who knows me, He knows what temptation I'm going to face. He knows what may lay ahead of me that will make me shipwrecked. He knows where I may fall if I don't experience this. He knows that I need to be humbled. He knows that I need to be brought low. He knows that I need to be in a place of repentance. And so I understand God is sovereign. This is from God for my good. This is part of the all things that are for my good. And when we believe, when we believe, Christ comes to us. In believing, ye rejoice. And I'm able to say that the lines have fallen unto me in pleasantness, in pleasant places. Unbelief is an unhappy, miserable place to be in. Unbelief is such a miserable place to live in. to live in. No good in this for me. The devil's doing this to me. God's not caring for me in this. I wish God would have made me different. I wish God would not have included this personality quirk in my place, in my property. Belief in God. In believing, ye rejoice. Let me ask you a question. Can man mess up God's purpose for me? Can man mess up God's purpose for me? Can they? Can man somehow mess up God's purpose for me? No. No. Are you sure? I'm sure. I'm sure. Joseph. Joseph. God had a purpose for Joseph to save much people alive in Egypt. Did his brothers mess up God's purpose? Did they? They dug a pit. No, they didn't dig it. They threw him in a pit. They lied about him. They sold him. We got rid of the dreamer. What does Joseph say many years later? He says, you thought evil. You thought evil. You thought you really were messing it up for me. But God, He purposed it for good. There's joy in that. There's joy in that. Can man mess up God's purpose for me? Can man somehow ruin things today so that all things don't work together for good? Can man do that? Can man somehow reach out and pull back God's hand and now God's purpose for me will not be fulfilled? Can man somehow erect a high wall, a roadblock and keep God from going down the path that God has chosen to go? You know the answer. When you think about it, you realize clearly man can't do that. That's what Peter wrote to these believers. He said, just rejoice. Greatly rejoice. The trial of your faith will be found to be unto praise and honor and glory. That's what, I believe it was, was it Yes, it's here in verse 7. That the trial of your faith is going to be found unto praise and honor and glory. Even when you as a child of God, if you fall into some sin, if you have the right attitude about that, do you realize that God can work good in your life even through your failure? Do you think I've gone too far in that? Do you think I have? You have fallen. You've foolishly fallen. You've stumbled into sin. What is my conviction? That if you humble yourself before God, God can work good in your life even in your failure, even in your stupidity. I believe that. You know, you can come out of that experience more humble, more broken, more tender than ever before. Shall we continue in sin that grace may bound? No, no. But when you have fallen, God is able to work good in it. He often does. He shows us our need. He shows us where we were arrogant or proud. He uses us to warn others. He humbles us to prevent further and deeper sin. Well, as a child of God, I say this morning that the lines are falling onto me in pleasant places. My sins are forgiven. My sins are forgiven. Christ comes to me in trials. He comes to me in the storm. He's a very present help in time of need. And then, think about it that the child of God's joys can never be taken away. The games, the dances, the parties of the wicked will all soon be over. There'll be none in hell. There'll be no pleasures there. The pleasure that comes in the world's wickedness, it will soon all be over. Money, friends, honor, they can all be taken away and they will be taken away. But the child of God does not receive his pleasure from these. He receives his pleasure from a different source altogether. I had to think about a house that we lived in once, the edge of a town, and everybody else in the town was on city water. But our water, the pipe to our house came from a spring up in the mountain. And it just came to a house or two right in our area. And when all the rest of the town was out of water, we still had running water. Because our water was coming from a different source. We weren't, you know, in the city water system. We weren't dependent on their pumps and their pipes. Their pipes broke, their pumps broke, the electricity failed. But, you know, in our house we had that that flowing stream just piped right into our house. And, you know, it sort of made us feel good. You know, and other people were out carrying buckets of water and their taps weren't working and ours was. Well, that's the child of God. Our source of joy comes from a different system. It comes from a different system altogether. And because of that, we have joy like a spring of water, life flowing out of our belly. Well, dear friend this morning, do you have a spirit of pleasantness? Do you have a spirit of pleasantness and joy? Or do you live in the moly grubs? Do you know what the moly grubs are? You know, just heavy and heavy and heavy all the time. Do you have a spirit of pleasantness and joy? Is there singing about your house? Are you smiling one to another? Are you praising the Lord? And I'm not talking about personality. I'm talking about a deep joy in your life. Some people shout it when they have it. Other people just whisper it, but with just as much feeling they whisper it. But do you have the attitude that the portion that the Lord has given to me is good? We ought not to have a depressed and downward spirit. We ought not. Even in tears, we ought to be at peace. Even when our hearts are broken, we ought to be at peace. Murray McChain, Robert Murray McChain, wrote this, that some think us mad to call the way we live happiness. If this is happiness, he wrote, I would that all were mad. Some think us mad to have joy, to be worshiping, to be thanking God when our loved ones die. And things fail, and we fail. Some think us mad to call the way we live happiness. He wrote, if this is madness, I would that all were mad. How can you, an unbelieving man, think you have peace? How can you think you have pleasure or comfort? Your peace will soon be at an end. You ought not despise our pleasure. We know joy. We are happy because the louder the storm, the nearer is Christ. We are happy because we have got a happiness that God has. It is God who makes us happy. It is God who makes us happy. He is the source of our joy. I am sure that the Lord would be honored if you would leave the meeting today more thankful for the place that he has prepared for you. I think that it would give him a lot of joy. And I think your joy would be full if you would say, Lord, I thank you for what you have measured out for me. And Lord, I am going to receive it from you. I am going to receive what you have given to me from you, believing that it is for my good. Can you do that today? Can you bow your heart and worship and say, thank you, Lord? Can you? We teach our children, we say now, say thank you. Well, I guess that is what I am saying to you as a congregation. Now say thank you. Okay? Just say thank you. Our sovereign God, he has given you a gift. Now say thank you. Amen. Shall we thank him? Let's kneel together. Pray. Father in heaven, sovereign Lord, we bow before you. Lord, we say thank you, Father. Truly, indeed, in all the things that you have allowed into our life, Father, we confess, God, that you are good and that your ways are perfect and right. And they are so much higher than our ways. We see just the underside of the beautiful weaving and planning and purpose that you are working out for our life. So, Father, this morning, forgive us for where we have complained or murmured and been unthankful for the circumstances in life or wrongly blamed the devil or people. Oh, Father, help us, God, that we should see all men as you see them and not blame them for circumstances in life and be unforgiving and bitter and resentful and hateful. Oh, Lord, this morning we say thank you, Father, for loving us with a true love that you do all things well and good. And, Father, we do pray this morning for those that may be wrestling, struggling, resisting what you want to do in their life. Oh, Father, may we humbly submit ourselves under the almighty hand of God, the all-wise, loving Father, in the midst of the trials and the sufferings and the chastenings. Lord, we want to receive the chastening of the Lord, the suffering that Christ may be magnified in our life, that we may be humble, broken, vessels yielded in the hand of God. Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful message from your Word to our hearts. We receive it, Father. It's from you, Lord. And thank you for bringing our brother Philip today and bless him for sharing with us and his family and prosper them in true heavenly prosperity in the things of God, in the eternal things, Lord. And bless their fellowship there in Tennessee. Father, we do thank you now with joy in Jesus' name. Amen. I'd like to give an opportunity this morning for response, if you have a response this morning. Confession. Testimony. Just raise your hands so we can get a microphone to you. What a beautiful thing that we can open up our hearts and share and find grace. Okay, in the back. I'd like to add another trap to the list that Brother Dean gave in his children's lesson. The trap that I've been caught in for the last while and I've been caught in before and that's unbelief. Not believing God. I really appreciate the messages this morning. I want to be able to go on and believe God and not just... I've been trying to... I haven't been believing God and walking along in unbelief and because of that I've been trying to work things out on my own and turning to works instead of by faith. I really appreciate the word this morning. Amen. There's a hand over here. To my left. Toward the front. Can you raise your hand again, Brother? There, thank you. I just want to thank God for the message this morning. I'm just... I'm kind of looking at the dark side of things too. I would say realistic. I take it this morning as a reminder from God, not from Brother Phillip, but from the Lord Himself for myself and the congregation and repent of that attitude of negative. It's a real joy for me to sit here and hear those words and just help me to see that... reminded that all things do work together. So I thank God for that this morning. Amen. Alright, we have one over here. Sister? I am so thankful for the message this morning. It was a real blessing to me. I can honestly say the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. And I have found it very true what He said. That believing is where the joy comes in. It's just believing that God does exist. He does care. And especially in the belief that He has sovereign control over your life. He knows everything about you and He knows everything about your life. And that's why He's bringing this into your life. And it's also the hope of Heaven. The hope of... It's such a foundation underneath me to know that God cares and that Heaven is in the end. And I can't imagine the hopelessness and the horror of life if you wouldn't have it the best in life and you wouldn't have the hope of Heaven afterwards. And I just praise God for the real foundation He has to me under my life. And knowing He's there and He loves me and He has my whole life in His control. Praise God. Thank the Lord. I'm so overjoyed to hear that message today. It filled my heart with joy. And thank you, Philip, for bringing us the message and for God for being so faithful to answer our prayers. I want to thank the Lord also for the message today. It was what I needed to hear. I don't like going through storms in the natural or in the spiritual. And when I was a little boy, my mother was terrified of storms. And we'd be in the car and she would just, just like lose control. And this spirit of fear would come in there. And that thing wants to come on me when I'm going through a storm while I'm driving. I didn't realize that until I talked to my sister about it a while back. And she said, well, don't you remember when we were in the car with Mom what she used to do and how afraid she was? So that's a battle that I have when I'm driving. And it's kind of irrational but something that really is a struggle for me. We were driving back here from Colorado this week and driving through Iowa. And here it comes, this big black storm right up in front of us. And here came that old fear. I was like the disciples out on the boat. And I couldn't see that Jesus was going to come in the fourth watch. And the hail started flying and I'm looking over at the side and there's a news guy up on the overpass filming it, trying to find where the tornado is, I guess. And this fear just gripped me. Traffic stopped on the interstate. And it sounds like it's going to smash my windshield in, the hail, and you can't see anything because it's so dark and the rain's coming down. That's a natural thing. But the Lord's showing me that that's what I do when the storms of life come too. And I've been battling with sickness for two and a half years. I haven't been liking that. And I want the Lord to get me out of that. And by God's grace, I want to be able to accept that. I believe that He will heal me, but I guess it's not the fourth watch yet. But I appreciate that encouragement and ask for your prayers that I can rest in the Lord, trust Him, that His timing is perfect, and let the storm come, but look to Him. Amen. Bless you, brother. Yes, I'm also thankful for the message and especially in the area of being thankful for the difficulties that we go through. And I admit that I've not, through some of the difficulties I've gone through, I've not been thankful. And I just want to thank the Lord this morning for the grace that He is giving me and helping me to overcome and be victorious. Praise God. Amen, brother. Another hand up here. I'd like to confess this morning that the Lord is my portion and that the lines in my life grow more pleasant as I get older and as I understand my heritage, they do seem more and more pleasant to me. Isaac Watts wrote a song that says, majestic sweetness sits enthroned upon my Savior's brow, His head with glorious beauty crowned and His lips with grace overflow. Let me hear Thy gracious voice, but whisper, Thou art mine. Those simple words would raise my song to notes almost divine. Amen. Praise God. Alright, well thank you for sharing. I would just like to encourage us as a congregation here. One of the things I so appreciated in the message is the proper view of the sovereignty of God and God's working in your life. This thing of rebuking the devil, it's everything the devil. I feel it's so much, so much a better place to be to humble ourselves before the Lord and receive from the Lord what He has for us and say, Lord, you're our sovereign Lord over my life. I shall not fear what man shall do unto me, what demons should do unto me because I belong to Jesus. And they can't touch me except by the sovereign permission of my sovereign God who works all things out for my good in my life. I'm gonna rest there and trust God there for my life. Submit myself to Him and let Him work out His perfect plan in my life. And yes, He can take care of the devil. So God bless you all. I think we'll move ahead with the service at this time. Brother Earl, if you have a song that we could share together in and worship the Lord in, while we then also give opportunity to share in the offering this morning. God bless. Hello. This is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Gospel Tape Ministry. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this tape. 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