In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of soul travail and how it doesn't fit into the materialistic society we live in. He uses the example of Jacob in Genesis 32, who was left alone and experienced soul travail. The preacher also shares the joy of having a new baby in their home and emphasizes the responsibility that comes with raising a child. He talks about the pain, fear, and struggle that accompanies soul travail, and how many people may have asked themselves how much longer they must prevail before experiencing a breakthrough.

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus to each one. A welcome to our visitors wherever you are from. I don't know if you understand all my words, but we welcome you in Jesus name. I trust that God can bless you this morning. This morning for an opening meditation, I felt led of the Lord just to share a little of my own meditations for the last few days. I'd like to speak this morning just as an opening, a little bit on soul travail, on soul travail. We praise God this morning at our house that we have a little baby at home, the birth of our sixth child. We praise God for that today. Just this morning before I left about four o'clock in the morning, that little baby was awake as most babies are at four o'clock in the morning. They usually don't sleep much past that. I got to hold the little one one more time before I came here. And all the joy as you hold that little baby in your hands, in your arms, and you see that there's life there again and you see that God has breathed life into one more soul. And it's a blessing and it's a fresh new joy in our home to have a little baby. We praise God for our little Esther Serena, she's our reward from God, that's what the Bible says, she's a reward, she's a gift from God. And we we rejoice this morning and ask each one to rejoice with us. And I know you do and I know you have been rejoicing with us and we have another little one in our house that mama's arms are filled again with the sweet sounds of a crying baby and our hearts are filled with the responsibilities that lay heavy upon us already as we look at that little one and realize that we have a responsibility for that little child, that that little one is going to grow up and someday that little baby will talk and that little baby will walk and that little baby will think and act and do many things. And all of that responsibility lays upon us right now. The little baby is receiving nourishment and it's beginning to grow and we are rejoicing over all of that. Yes, the sweet sound of the baby's cries in our home again. And it causes the memory of the travail to flee away, doesn't it? You know, the Bible even says that that the sweet sound of the baby's cry makes the memory of travail flee away and it does. But this morning, this morning, it seems that the Lord is not allowed the memory of the travail to flee away in my own heart. And I just thought it'd be good for all of us just to meditate a little bit on travail this morning, not the travail of bringing a little baby into the world, but a travail that is greater yet than the travail of bringing a baby into the world. And that's the travail of our own souls, which is people to prevail. God wants us to travail for his blessing. God wants us to travail that we might have the things that God wants for us. God wants us to travail over the souls of men and women that are around us. And these last few days. I've not been able to shake the memory of the travail of the birth of our sixth child. God seems like the spirit of God is just taking the memory of it and applying it into my own heart over and over again. And God seems to say, what do you want? What do you really want? Do you want birth? Do you want more fruitfulness in your own life? Do you want that overcoming power in your own life? What do you want? God seems to be saying to my own heart, God seems to be saying also so clearly through the truth of travail that where there is no travail, there is no birth. Where there is no travail, there is no birth. Jesus used the travail of woman bringing forth child in John chapter 16. I'd like to turn there for just a few minutes. And by the way, lest you. Lest you think that this this discussion is an unholy discussion, I would say that if it's in the word of God, it's been made holy, it's been made hollow, it's been made sweet, it's been made precious. The travail of a woman bringing forth a child has been made holy by God, for it's written over and over and over again in the word of God. In John chapter 16, Jesus used the illustration of travail and birth while he was relating to his disciples. Reading from verse 20, Jesus said these words. Verily, verily, I say unto you that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. We're in John chapter 16, John chapter 14, John chapter 15, John chapter 16, John chapter 17. Those chapters all come together. We're at the end of the Lord Jesus Christ ministry. He's giving last words to his disciples. It's soon time for him to go to the cross. And he knows that his disciples are not going to understand it when he goes to the cross. He knows already that they're going to be confused, that confusion is going to come upon them, that pain is going to come upon their soul, that every one of their dreams is going to be ripped out of their heart in just a few days when he goes to the cross. And he says. He shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice and that will confuse you, disciples, while the world is rejoicing, you're going to weep and lament. But your sorrow shall be turned into joy. A woman, when she is in travail, has sorrow because her hour has come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow. But I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your joy. No man take it from you. No man take it from you. And in that day, ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the father in my name, he will give it you. Hitherto have you asked nothing in my name. Ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full. Jesus is telling his disciples, even though they're not going to understand it, he's saying, I need to go to the cross. I need to go into the jaws of death. I need to suffer many things. I need to die. I need to go into the grave so that your joy can be full. I need to go through all those things to bring about a new relationship between God and man. You've been asking me for everything you want. But after I go through the jaws of death and go into the grave and come out in resurrection power, then you will no longer ask me anything anymore. But you'll ask the father. You'll ask the father in my name. And whatever you ask the father in my name, because you ask it in my name, he'll give it to you and your joy will be full. But Jesus used the illustration here of a woman prevailing in birth and he told his disciples, you're going to prevail, you're going to have pain, you're going to have anguish of soul. Fear is going to fill your heart. Confusion is going to fill your heart. Despair will fill your heart. But just like a woman who prevails for child, once that travail is over and the child is delivered, all the memory of the travail will flee away from you. This is what Jesus was saying to his disciples. Turn to Jeremiah chapter four in Jeremiah chapter four, we get a little bit more insight into what travail is about. Although I don't plan to spend a lot of time speaking a detail about the travail of birth of a woman, we can see so clearly in the word of God how that that travail of birth is transferred over into the lives of God's people. And here in Jeremiah chapter four, we see two examples of soul travail. One is by the prophet who's travailing in heart over the judgment that shall come upon God's people. And the other is the travail of heart that comes upon those who receive judgment from God here in Jeremiah chapter four. First of all, that of the prophet Jeremiah four and verse 19. Hear the heart, hear the words of travail, my bowels, my bowels, I am pained at my very heart, my heart, make the noise in me. I cannot hold my peace because thou has heard, oh, my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war here. We hear we hear from these words, we get some insight into what soul travail is all about. My bowels, my bowels or my innermost being, my innermost being, it hurts. There's pain in my innermost being. I don't understand it all, but there's pain there. It's a pain deep within. It's a pain that I can't explain. It's a pain that I can't get away from. It's a pain in my bowels or in the in the innermost being of my person. There's a pain. It's a great pain and I can't get rid of it. My heart make the noise in me because I hear the sound of the trumpet and the alarm of war, Jeremiah's heart, as he looks at the judgment that is to come on Jerusalem. And then over in verse thirty one, we hear we see here a prophecy of the response of the daughters of Zion when the judgment does finally fall. Read in verse thirty one. For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first born child, the voice of the daughter of Zion that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her arms, saying, woe is me now for my soul is wearied because of murderers. Here we see a picture of Jerusalem being plagued with murderers, of Jerusalem being overcome by the enemy that is coming in and and the daughters of Zion are prevailing. And here the daughters of Zion is speaking about the people of God and the people of God are prevailing and they're stretching their arms toward God and they're crying out as a woman cries out in travail for child because of the murders that are among the people of God. By these by these examples, we get some insight into prevail is is all about and the longer that I meditated upon travail, the travail of soul that should come upon the people of God, the more I realized why so many people don't know what travail of soul is all about. Travail of soul and travail of birth, they're very much the same thing. If you'll meditate upon them, you'll realize also why so many people do not know what travail is all about, what is involved in travail, pain, pain, unexplainable pain is involved, fear, fear strikes the heart of one who is in travail, fear of the unknown, the struggle, the struggle of heart that goes along with travail, struggling against what despair, struggling against discouragement, the battle that goes on, the struggle that goes on inside the heart, thinking these thoughts, how much longer, how much longer must I prevail before the birth? I wonder how many souls in this room have said that very thing as they've prevailed in their souls over somebody else or over a need in their life or maybe a struggling saint in the church. I wonder how many have said that very word. How much longer, how much longer shall I prevail before the birth? How much longer shall I continue to wrestle before the birth comes? That's the struggle of travail, my friend. You don't know when the birth is going to come. All you know is that the pain is upon you. You don't know when the birth is going to come. All you know is that the travail of soul is upon you. But I want to encourage you this morning that if you're travailing in your soul this morning, the travail is the promise of the birth. Without any travail, there is no birth. And if you travail in soul this morning, the travail is a promise of the birth. Without the travail, there is no birth. My sister, my brother, there is no birth. And the travail is the promise of the birth. Be thou encouraged. What's involved in travail? The struggle. That I'm not going to make it. That struggle goes on in travail. Am I going to make it? That struggle goes on in travail. Will I receive the reward? Will I receive the reward? That struggle goes on in travail. Will I have it? Will I see it? Will I hold it? Will I hear it cry? Will I see the reality of it? Will I see the reward? Will I hold the reward? That struggle goes on in travail. Yes, it does. It's very real. It's a very real struggle. That goes on in travail. Turn to Isaiah 66. We see in Isaiah 66. How God encourages soul travail. Isaiah 66 in verse five, we'll start reading there. Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word, your brother that hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, saying, let the Lord be glorified, but he shall appear to your joy and they shall be ashamed. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. Look at verse seven, before she travail, she brought forth before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child who have heard such a thing. Who has seen such a thing, shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travail, she brought forth her children. You know, this verse is speaking about somewhat of the false prophecies that were going on in those days, saying peace and safety, saying you'll have the blessing without the travail. You'll have the blessing without the struggle. You'll have the blessing. God will take care of you. Everything will be fine. And God said before she travail, she brought forth. Is there such a thing who ever heard of such a thing that a woman would bring forth a child without travailing? And God said, for as soon as Zion travail, she brought forth her children, shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth, God says, sayeth the Lord, shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb, sayeth thy God, rejoice ye with Jerusalem and be glad with her. All ye that love her rejoice for joy with her. All ye that mourn for her. What is God saying? God is saying to his people here, shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth? No, God says. The answer is assumed there. No, I will not. If you find yourself in travail this morning, that is only a promise that there's going to be a birth. And God says, will I bring you to that place of travail? Will I bring you to that place that says birth is right around the corner and then not let you have the birth? God says, no, I'll not do that to you. If I bring you into soul travail, I bring you into travail for birth. That is what God is saying to us this morning. And he encourages us with those words. If I brought you into soul travail, I brought you into it to give you a birth that which you prevail over in Micah chapter four. Turn over there with me to Micah. God speaking to his people again, see these encouraging words, how God encourages his people through the illustration, a very real illustration, a very living illustration. To his people, verse nine, chapter four of Micah, verse nine. Now, why does thou cry out aloud? Is there no king in thee? Is thy counselor perished? For pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail, and God is describing to them the pain of travail has come upon thee as the pain of a woman in travail. Verse nine, then verse 10. God says, be in pain. God says, be in pain and labor to bring forth, oh, daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail. For now, shalt thou go forth out of the city and thou shalt dwell in the field and thou shalt go even to Babylon. There shalt thou be delivered. There the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies. And if you go on to read it, it's a promise of God's full blessing to come. And God is saying there that the spirit of travail has come upon you. And God says to his people there, just before it's time for them to go away into captivity, into Babylon, he says to them, be in pain, let that pain come upon you and labor to bring forth like a woman labors to bring forth a child, you labor to bring forth, allow yourself to go the way that God wants you to go. Allow God to take you where he wants to take you and let the pain of travail fall upon thy soul, for the blessing is on the other side of that pain of travail. What do we travail for? It's evident God wants us to travail, but what do we travail for? We can travail for lost souls. And some in this room know what that's all about, to travail for a lost soul, to travail for it and be in pain for it and allow yourself to suffer for it and go through the struggle of not seeing the birth yet and go through the struggle of wondering if you'll see the birth yet and go through the struggle of wondering if you'll make it till the birth. Yet some know the travail of travailing over a lost soul. We need a travail over lost souls. We need afflict our souls and afflict our hearts and let the pain of the reality of a lost soul fall upon our hearts and travail. We need a travail for God's people. Paul said, speaking to the Galatians, he said, I travail in birth till Christ be formed in you. They were already birthed, but Paul didn't stop there. He didn't stop at the travail of bringing Christians into the world. He didn't do that. He didn't stop at the travail of the birth of new Christians. No, he continued his travail until Christ would be formed in them, until maturity would come, until they would grow up into him and be filled with all the fullness of Christ. Paul prevailed in prayer until they would be filled with all the fullness of God. He didn't stop with travailing over a lost soul, but he travailed till Christ would be formed in them. What can I travail for? You can travail for salvation in your own life. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, there's everything right with it. You can travail for salvation, for your own soul. You can be afflicted and you can mourn and you can let your laughter be turned to sorrow and you can let your joy be turned to heaviness. You can allow those things. You can afflict your own soul. You can seek the face of God. You can seek God until the pain of your lost condition settles down upon your heart. In fact, there's not a clearer illustration of travail of birth than to watch somebody travail until they come through to birth. There's not a clear illustration of it. Oh, the struggle of the whole thing, the fainting of hope in the heart as they wonder, will God let me, will God receive me? Will God let me through? Will God let me go to heaven or will I go to hell? And the battle that goes on, will I make it or not? Will God bring me through? Oh, the joy to see one that travails like that come through. What a beautiful picture. One birth is physical birth and the other is the new birth. But both of them take travail in order to come forth. Both of them do. What else can I travail for? You can travail for overcoming power in your own life. You can travail for it. You can say I'll not have this. I'll not be plagued with this sin anymore. I'll not be plagued with these appetites anymore. I'll not have that anymore. I'll overcome this lust. I will not have those things and travail and travail until that overcoming power comes to deliver you from whatever it may be that plagues your soul. I'll never forget the illustration that I read about Charles Finney, who went out one day and while he was out, he was plagued with some some thoughts about another woman. And he and he fell on his face that evening before God. And he prevailed all through the night. The hours clicked by at ten o'clock and eleven o'clock and twelve o'clock and one o'clock in the morning and two and three and four. And he wrestled and he wrestled and he wrestled until he got the victory over that thing. And he rose up with such victory over his heart attitudes about women like that, that he was said that he could walk right up to a harlot and look her straight in the eyes and plead with her for her soul and have her down on her knees pleading for salvation and not have any struggle in his heart about his own thoughts toward her. He because he prevailed for overcoming power in that need in his life. And when you prevail, you will prevail. You will prevail if you'll prevail. Another thing we can prevail over, we need to prevail for the church. We need to prevail for us as a church. We need to prevail over that. We need to weep and mourn over that. We need to get burdened about it. We need to let the pain. We need to let the pain fall upon our heart until God will do the work that he needs to do in every one of the hearts of the people that are in this room. We need to prevail for the church. And by that, I'm not saying that nobody does. I know I know there's travail for the church. Another thing we need to prevail for, we need to prevail for revival. We need to prevail for it. Oh, how easy it is, isn't it? Oh, how easy it is to look around and say. We. Side two. Honest, and we need to continue to prevail till revival is seen in our land and in this county where we live, we need to prevail for it. I thought this morning as I was praying over this message, I thought, oh, what would happen? Oh, if our people, if a group of people, if a congregation this size would set themselves to travail and get burdened about it and not let up and just continue to let the pain of travail fall upon their heart. I wonder what would happen. I wonder what would happen. Speaking to myself also. God's work is prospered through travail. We see it. We see it in the history books, God's work is prospered through travail. Every time God's work moves forward before before his work moves forward, you'll find some hidden soul somewhere who let the pain of the whole thing fall upon their heart. It might be some blind old lady who's laid up in a bed somewhere. It might be some invalid man who rolls around in a wheelchair and can't get out much. It might be somebody like that. But wherever you see the work of God moving forward and prospering, you can you can search down behind the scenes and you'll find some prevailing soul somewhere. They may be unknown souls. They may be insignificant souls, but you'll find some unknown souls somewhere prevailing before God, prevailing for the birth to come, receiving the pain, going through the struggles, fighting the battles and waiting and longing to see the birth. You'll find them. You'll find them every time. God encourages us to travail, but all all the pain. But what about the pain? What about the fears? What about the discouragement that sets in? And what about the attitude that we were plagued with to give up? And all of those things. But what about all that? God encourages us to travail. But the more I meditate upon travail, the more I realize why nobody does it. Amen. It's not real fun, my brothers and sisters, travail, it's not real fun, it's not real pampering to the flesh, it will make your flesh feel good, it won't make you feel uncomfortable, it'll make you stay awake at night when others are sleeping, it'll make you get up when others are not up yet, it'll make you stay up when others have went to bed already. It'll make struggles in your life that others don't understand. It'll make you confusing to other people. It'll bring confusion into your life. It'll bring battles into your life that you may not understand at the time. It'll bring times of darkness where you don't see the light shining. It'll bring all those things in there. And that's why people don't travail. It's just no fun. It just doesn't go along with with the program. It doesn't fit into American society, does it? It doesn't fit into McDonald's, hamburgers and Big Macs and and all the wonderful things that we have everywhere around us. Soul travail doesn't fit into that. Turn to Genesis chapter 32. The Bible is such an exciting book. It seems that God, for every illustration, God has some character in the Bible where he can read it in real life. Look at Jacob who travailed. Now, Genesis 32, verse twenty four. And Jacob was left alone. We could stop right there, couldn't we? And Jacob was left alone. You want to travail? You'll be alone if you do, my friend. You'll be lonely sometimes. Jacob was left alone and there he wrestled. There he wrestled, there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. Oh, see how much travail is in here alone. And he wrestled and he wrestled all night till the breaking of the day. And when he saw that he prevailed, not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. That's interesting. And he said, this is the angel. Let me go. For the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. Oh, God, give us that kind of heart. That's the kind of heart we need for travail. That's the kind of heart that it takes for travail. That's the kind of heart that a woman has when she brings for the child. I will not stop until I get the blessing. I will not stop until I have that baby in my arm. I will not stop until I hear the sweet sound of that baby crying. I will not stop. And that's what Jacob said. I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, thy name shall be called normal, no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince has thou power with God and with men and has prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said, tell me, I pray thee thy name. And he said, wherefore is it that thou does ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel, the sun arose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Therefore, the children of Israel eat not of the sinew, which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh unto this day, because he, the angel, touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank. What a beautiful picture. Are we willing to walk that way? Jacob went in to travail and he went into travail with a heart that said, I'm not going to let go until I get a blessing. And he went into travail with a heart that says, I don't care if pain comes upon me. I'm going to get a blessing. And he went into the travail with a heart that said, I don't care if I'm not the same when he's done. I'm going to get the blessing. I don't care if my body gets hurt. I'm going to get the blessing. That was Jacob's heart. Can we go into travail that way? And then and then realize that we may walk out of travail the same way that Jacob did, halting on his thigh, holding on his thigh. But he had a new name. Hallelujah. Yes, he was holding on his thigh when he walked out of that travail, but he had a new name. His name was not Jacob anymore, which meant usurper. His name was now Israel, which meant prince of God. And he had power with God and he had power with men because he was willing to travail with the angel until the angel blessed him. And God giving us the same kind of encouragement this morning that we would not be satisfied where we're at. And we'd not be satisfied with the needs in our life. And we'd not be satisfied with lost souls that are not being converted. And we'd not be satisfied with that dry coldness that is in our soul. But we'd be like Jacob and rise up and say, I'm not going to stop until I get the blessing from God. I'm not going to stop until my life is changed. That's what God wants. That's the kind of heart that women enter into travail over. They're not going to stop until they hear the sweet sound of that baby. And that's the way we need to be here this morning. We need to say today, I'm not going to stop until God blesses me. I'm not going to stop until I get the victory. I'm not going to stop until I overcome. I'm not going to stop until I see that husband or that wife or that loved one born again. I'm not going to stop. I'll travail. I'll give myself to the pain until the pain changes me on the inside. That's the kind of hard attitude that we need to have. The Lord Jesus travail, didn't he? Says in Isaiah 53, that the father saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied. Not only did the father look down and see his broken body, not only did the father look down and see the beard plucked out of his face, not only did the father see those things, but the father looked at the travail of his soul and was satisfied. When Jesus travail, he birthed the church. Not a bad reward when Jesus travail, he birthed the church. Isn't that what it says in Hebrews? Looking under Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross and despised the shame. He saw the joy set before him. He saw the church. He saw the glory resting upon the church. He saw a little Christ running all over this earth. He saw people transformed by the power and the anointing of God's spirit. And the joy was set before him. And he travailed through all those things. And he travailed through the cross. And he travailed through the agony. And he travailed through the bowls of Bashan, encompassed round about him and all the demons of hell nipping at his heels while he was there on the cross. And he travailed through all of that because of the joy that was set before him. He saw the birth of the church. And he wanted to see the birth of the church. And he wanted to hear the sweet cries and praises of coming out of the lips of God's people all over the world, out of every nation and tongue and people. Oh, the reward, the reward. He forgot the travail, didn't he? He forgot the travail. And so will we. So will he. All the sweet reward, the sweet reward chases that travail away. It chases the memories of it away. I'm continually amazed how fast it disappears. Just the first whimpering sounds of that little baby and all the travail is gone and the memory is gone and the pain of it gone and all those things are gone and nothing else matters. And joy fills the heart of a woman that brings forth a child. And it's the same in our lives. We need to travail till we prevail and we'll receive the reward that God has for us. Whatever it may be, we need to travail. We need to see the joy that is set before us and keep on going and keep on going until God blesses us. Has God put travail upon you? Don't give up. Don't fade in your heart. If God has put a spirit of travail upon you, don't give up, yield to it, give yourself holy to it. The travail is promise of the birth. It's promise of the birth. Number two, are you willing to receive travail? Are you willing? Number three, are you willing to bring it upon yourself? You know, we don't have to wait for God to put travail upon us. We can travail ourselves. We can afflict our souls. We can get burdened. We can be alone with God. We can meditate on the things that we need to and break our hearts before God. We can do that. Are you willing? In Psalms, it says these words, and I'll say in closing. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Shall we kneel for prayer? Father, we're asking you this morning, Lord, to do a work in our lives. We're asking you this morning, Lord, to not let any of us go. We're asking you, Lord God, to continue to do a work in each one of our lives. And Father, in this day, oh God, this day, let not this day go by, Father, without the needs of your people being met. Oh Lord, we are committing our lives into your hands. We are committing each one of these souls into your hands. Father, we thank you, Lord, for the sweet picture of travail in the Bible. We ask you, Lord, let a spirit of travail be upon us as a church. Lord, we desire it. We desire more of it, Father. We thank you for what we have, but Lord, we desire more of it. Lord, we're asking you to continue to bless the service here this morning and the one this evening. God, we are looking to thee. Our faith looks up to thee this morning. We're looking to thee, God, to do a work in the midst of your people. Father, we are trusting all that into your hands this morning, and we're asking in Jesus' name, amen.