Victorious Christian Living - Donny Swartzentruber

Thy God reigneth so thankful we heard those words tonight

from Brother Leland, and it's so important for us to remember,

to realize, to think about if we do not respond

to the goodness of God, we will experience his severity.

The Bible tells us it's the goodness of God that

leads us to repentance. If we choose to reject Jesus,

come unto me, we will have no choice. When he

says depart from me and Joe tonight. It's so important

for that message to be known and know that there

would not be one heart here tonight holding out on God.

And I think that was mentioned Tuesday evening, just an

encouragement for us not to hold out on God, but

just just open our hearts to him and let him

bring us closer to himself and to each other. Makes

me think of a song when I was a little

boy at home that I remember several occasions in the evening,

after the evening meal, we would sing this song. Mom

and Daddy would sing this song, and as a little boy,

I remember I just had to cry almost every time

they sang that song. I don't have a copy of

it here right with me, but it was a song

about a dream a man had, and judgment had come,

and the Father came before the Lord, and God said, sorry,

I never knew you, depart from me forevermore. And in

that song, it's it's like as it were a child

saying to Daddy, I'm sorry, but you can't go with us.

And I had to cry when Mom and Daddy sang

that song. I think to of the day that our

daughter Nelly burned her finger very badly, and that night

she was experiencing pain in her hand, and all through

the night the only way that she found relief, it seemed,

was that she was a little baby, you know. We

took her in our bed with us, and we could

we could hold an ice cube on her finger and

on her hand, and that relieved the pain to where

she could rest. And I just thought about, you know,

while we're here, and I thought of our dear daughter

Nelly and anyone else. You know, we want to do

all we can while it is day for their soul

and salve and their rightness before the Lord, because we

know if there's a child that rejects God, you know,

there's the scriptures are so plain about in the end

those that reject and for sake God's goodness, will experience

the wrath of God. Aren't we thankful tonight? There was

someone that said, coming to me, and aren't we thankful

tonight that the Bible tells us the spirit and the

bride say come and let him that is a thirst

come And we could say, come quickly, come quickly while

it is day, for night cometh. So Lord, bless you

brother Leland, for sharing those words with us. And we

think of that as we go through this evening. Blessings

to you, and thank you for everything you did for

Bertha and I while we were here. It's been such

a blessing being here with you. We've enjoyed it, we've

experienced fellowship, and we know you in a better way

than we did when we came. And we are love

with you for you is stronger. And again we just

want to bless you for what you're doing here and

endeavoring to do and your walk with the Lord, and

may you be faithful to Him, every one of you

you know, and even you children. It's been such a

blessing having you here each evening and adults, and we

wish you God's grace and blessing. So if you would

have seen us after we went home today with Derek's

from here the meal, we went to their house. If

you would have seen us, you would have seen that.

We went inside the door and we all gathered around

on the kitchen table there because there was a package

sent home with us, and we started kind of going

through the package and the granddaughters and seeing what was there,

and thank you for everything we found there. Thank you

for the gift card, the candle holders, the refreshments, but

a big thank you for the book that was put together.

So I don't know how many times when we'd leave

from here the service, you know, Berth and I wondered,

what about this person, that person and who's that and this?

And we just were so, you know, just we want

to know all of you, and we just thought it'd

be so nice to have pictures of you so we

could see who you are and names. And now we

have that, and so a big thank you for making

that possible. We'll really enjoy that book. And if I

understood correctly, from Gladys, we say a big thank you

to Louise for putting that together for us in a

very beautiful way, and that is very meaningful. So as

we return home, we will be thinking of you and

we want to bless you. So as we think of

a message for this evening, and just a little something

before going into the message. Children, So glad you're here tonight,

Just a little something for you. So, do you ever

get tired work you're asked to do? Your mom and

daddy ask you to do some chores or some work.

Do you ever get tired and wish you could just

go play and rest a while. Just want to show

you this picture tonight. This is a picture of a

Pacific plover. And when you get tired and you're kind

of thinking you just don't want to work so hard,

I want you to think about the Pacific plover. That

bird very nice bird. It's not a big bird, but

a very nice bird. These birds fly from the Aleutian

Islands up in Alaska all the way down to Hawaii

across the ocean, and there's no land between the Aleutian

Islands and Hawaii, and it's like two thousand miles. And

they don't swim like ducks. They can't land in the

water and swim like ducks. And those birds fly all

the way, none stop, like two thousand miles they go

to the Hawaii during the wintertime, and then they go

back up close to Alaska in the summertime where they

have their nests and raise another block of babies. And

they work so hard children, and they're flying. They can't

stop flying. They have to just keep flying day and

night till they get there, and like over three days

and nights. I think get takes them to fly that far,

and that journey is so hard. They lose a lot

of weight in that journey. If I figured, right, if

a person would weigh like two hundred and twenty five pounds,

the birds lose so much weight in their Journey'd be

like if that same person would get down to about

one hundred and thirty five pounds or so. That's how

much energy they use and weight they lose in that journey.

So next time you get tired and you think about

complaining about how much work you have, just think of

the Pacific plover and just keep right on and do

like those birds do and get it done. So this

evening we think about what is important for us if

we have come into the fold of God, if we

are allowing Him to shepherd us. Enjoyed so much seeing

your flock of sheep out in the pastures and the

green pastures lying down there. We all really want to

come to the end and have the Lord say well done,

don't we? Yes, we want to hear those words from

the Lord. And so we want to turn to Second Corinthians,

Chapter but chapter two, this evening, as we think of

a message in the first words we want to say,

as it relates to a portion of scripture, is now,

thanks be unto God, and we could just spend a

lot of time thinking about what all we have to

be thankful for. Verse fourteen. It begins that way, Now

thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph

in Christ and Maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge

by us in every place. We want to read the

next two verses in a moment, but it begins with

just thinking God that he causes us to triumph. He

gives us the possibility, the ability, the grace to triumph.

And there can't be a triumph without a battle, without

a struggle. It's only when there is, you know, a

battle going on, there can be a triumph. Triumph is

not just winning, it's like really being an overcomer. And

this happens only in Christ. But in Christ, he always

causes us to triumph. And we want to do that,

don't we, by the grace of God. And then it

goes on and it says, and He maketh manifest the

savor of His knowledge by us in every place. I'm

so thankful that there are lights on in the heart

of men and women, boys and girls in Halsey, Oregon.

And the Lord is making known the savor of his knowledge,

of his presence by you here. What am I calling

for people to observe your life and to see a

reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ here in Halsey, Oregon.

It says in verse fifteen four, we are unto God,

a sweet savor of Christ in them that are saved

and in them that perish. It's so interesting to see

children and children that bear the image of their parents,

and they look like them, don't they. And here God

is calling us to do this work. And we are

then a sweet savor of Christ unto God. And so

from this place tonight I believe, as it were, as

we sang together, as we pray together, and as we

fellowship together, there is like this aroma, this savor going

up to the Lord of glory that he's glorified by,

because after all, reality is none of us here tonight

are perfect, but lives have been changed his grace and goodness.

We see it, we feel it, we've experienced it, and

we bless you in it. Lives have been changed by

His goodness. We are unto God, a sweet savor of Christ,

in them that are saved, and in them that perish.

To the one we are a savor of death and

to death, and to the other the savor of life

and to life. And true who is sufficient for these things.

In the next chapter, verse five, it says our sufficiency

is of God. How true it is. It's only from

God that this can happen. But we just want to

bless you tonight for being like an altar that from

your life. You know, there's like a savor going from you.

That is, it's a glory to God and your life,

your presence. It gives to one the savor of life

and to life, to the other the savor of death

and to death. But there's some coming from your life.

And so what we have felt here from you a

lot is like the savor of life into life. It's

like an encouragement and blessing. It is also so important,

as Brother Leland brought out this evening, that our life

also is one that brings the savor of death and

to death to those that perish that are not walking

with the Lord. That our life is one that brings

conviction in because they think of God when they see you.

They're reminded that God is and God reigneth, and that

is God's call in our life. I'd like to think

tonight of victorious Christian living because He always causes us

to triumph in Christ. Victorious Christian living, and we could

divide that up into many, many different parts. Like to

think of this in three different ways this evening, especially

victorious Christian living. Worry is Christian living in the hour

of darkness. Number two, we have a victorious Christian life

when we let God turn our wounds into scars and

our scars into stars. And number three we're going to

title that hit that ball and we'll try to explain

how we can relate to that and maybe something to

remind us of how to use the Word of God

in the future. So number one, first of all is

victory in the hour of darkness. We think of Jesus

speaking and saying, we find in Luke twenty two fifty three,

he said, this is your hour and the power of darkness.

Of darkness, it comes into our lives in many different ways.

You know. We think of Paul and Silas. There was

an hour of darkness. They were preaching and teaching and

serving the Lord, and they wound up in a prison

in stocks. The songwriter has said their chains were fast

and tight down at the jail that night. Still Paul

and Silas would not be dismayed. They said, it's time

to lift our voice, sing praise to the Lord. Let's

prove that we will trust him, Come what may. The

Lord loves to hear our praise on our cheerful days,

when the pleasant times outweigh the bad by far. But

when suffering comes along and we still sing him songs,

that is when we bless the Father's heart. The songwriter

has said, God wants to hear you sing when the

waves are crashing around you, when I read darts surround you,

when despair is all you see. God wants to hear

your voice when the wisest man is spoken and he

says your circumstance is as hopeless as can be. Songwriter

has said, that's when God wants to hear you sing.

One of the treasures that I have at home in

the office that came from Mama and Daddy, and it

was it was Mama's This is just a picture of

Mama and who she was. And of course Daddy blessed

it and was there with it as well. But we

have three little hymn books. I'd love to have them

here tonight so I could show you. They're just nice

little books. Written in those three books are songs that

were written by Annie Johnson Flint. Who is Annie Johnson Flint.

She was a person that certainly knew what dark times were.

Annie Johnson Flint was the one that wrote this song.

He giveth more grace. When the burdens grow greater, he

sendeth more strength. When the labors increase, to added afflictions,

he addeth his mercy, and to multiplied trials, his multiplied piece.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance, when our

strength has failed, ere the day is half done. When

we reach the end of our hoarded resources, our Father's

forgiving is only begun. His love has no limit, his

grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men,

for out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth,

and giveth and giveth again. Who was it that wrote

this song and all those other songs and those three

lovely little hymn books we have at home? Annie Johnson

Flint a little girl that when she was I think

three years old, her mother had her little sister and

then died, and very soon after that, her father died

and they were placed in another home. That's why her

name is Annie Johnson Flint. She was a Johnson that

she was placed in the Flint home. She was never married.

One of Annie's dreams was to be a school teacher.

She became a very dedicated person early in her life.

She yielded her life to the Lord. She wanted to

serve the Lord, and she had this dream of being

a school teacher. And as she set out with that

goal in mind, she was a wonderful teacher. But very

early in her life she started suffering from rheumatoid arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis, and it attacked her body in so many

ways that she became a cripple. Her fingers and hands

became twisted, and she was unable to continue what she

thought was God's call in her life. Annie Johnson, Flint,

Her life was very difficult. This is a picture of

her on a wheelchair, and I think she was like

I think it was maybe before she was thirty years

old or about thirty years of age, and she wound

up in a wheelchair because of what she was suffering.

She was just not able to walk and barely able

to even keep a pin in her fingers. Her parents

died soon after she was placed in the Flint home.

Both of those the husband and wife, died and there

she was left very poor, trying to take care of

her little sister. A very difficult life, but she loved

to give to others. She learned how to share the

hard moments of her life with others who could not

understand the hardships of their lives. Is it okay if

God lets you go through your difficulty, through the hour

of darkness, so that tomorrow there's someone else that's going

to be going through and experience, and so that you

will become seasoned so you can reach down and minister

to that person. Like it tells us in the Bible,

God is a god of all comfort who comforteth Us

in all our tribulation, that we may be able to

comfort others with the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted

of God. Is that okay? With you? Think of how

it is now that we can go to the feet

of Jesus and such beautiful passages like in the Book

of Hebrews. We don't have an high priests that cannot

be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was

tempted in all points like as we are. Yet without sin,

we can go to the feet of Jesus, and there's

one there that knows what we experience. He came to earth,

not as an angel, not as Michael, Lord Gabriel, but

as a person. He took on him the seed of Abraham.

Tonight we could ask the question why was Melvin Viola kidnapped?

When I was a little boy about eleven or twelve

years old, Melvin Yoda went up into a harvestore silo.

It had grain in it, and he wanted to go

inside to work on the auger down in the bottom.

Something was wrong there and it had some grain in it.

He put a fan up in the top and was

hoping that would give him enough oxygen as he climbed

down the ladder into the corn harvestre silo. You know

they're sealed, and he got down in there, and he

didn't come in for supper that night, and so his

wife became concerned and alarmed and alerted all the neighbors around.

And I remember so well that night going over there,

and I was just a little boy, but I remember

seeing Daddy hooking to the blower, the silence blower, and

hooking it up and going and hooking it to the

pipe to blow some oxygen up in that silo. But

Melvin died in the silo. Viola, his wife, was a

very godly woman, just you would say in the congregation

at home. She was just one of the most humble,

most modest, most quiet, most seasoned sisters in the church. Well,

she moved off of the farm with her little family.

Her oldest son was I think about eleven years old

when this happened. She had like three or four children.

And one night Viola went to bed in the house

where Bertha and I lived from nineteen eighty four to

eighteen ninety seven, and that night there was.

A big strong man that came to her house and

broke in the door and went inside and grabbed Viola

to take her to kidnap her, to take her out.

To his vehicle and go away from the house. It

woke some of the children and her I think it

was eleven year old eleven or twelve year old son, Timothy.

He woke up, and of course they were alarmed and

hear this big man, strong man was taking mama. He

didn't know what to do. He found a flyshwater and

he was using that to try to strap the man.

And Viola was taken out, was thrown into his vehicle

and he was going to take off. She jumped out

the other side of the vehicle and ran back into

the house and closed the door, only to have him

come busting right back in and grabbing her and taking her,

putting her in his vehicle and taking off out the

lane and down the road toward Hawkinsville, Georgia. Why did

that happen? As they were going that night. I just

want to tell you, sister, so many of you here,

and I want you just to think about the glory

that you carry on your heads. It's something that the

angels notice. He was a big, strong man. He different times.

By Alla said in testimony that night he asked her

to remove her covering from her head, and of course

she wouldn't remove her covering. It was there. She had

it there for a purpose. She lived it. She knew

why she had it there. She wore it because of

what it symbolized. It's amazing that the big strong man

never took it in his own hands to tear her

covering off. That's amazing. He went towards Hawkinsville, Georgia, and

later when things were found out, it was thought, you know,

with the law becoming involved, was known that it is

believed he was going to molest her that night, do

terrible things and go and in Hawkinsville, Georgia, you go

across the big bridge and it's a big river, and

it was thought that's what he was going to do,

was throw viola into that river. Well, it is just amazing.

I'm thankful tonight I can tell you that thy God

ran us, and not every situation is the saying I

realized tonight. We could think of Sasha Cross a very

godly woman. But I still want to tell you this story.

The man ran out of gas in his vehicle and

he didn't know what to do. He told her she

must stay in the vehicle while he goes up to

a house and tries to get some gas somewhere, and

so Viola just stays there, stays in the vehicle. He

comes back and he said, you know, he had knocked

on the door. This was like one or two o'clock

in the morning, and no one would come to the door.

No one gave him any gas. So what was he

could do? And in Viola, in her sweet natured way,

she said, do you want me to go try to

get gash? And he accepted that offer. He thought, well, yes,

that would be okay. And so Viola goes up. And

Viola was a very poor lady, I mean very I

mean she just she lived by the basics. One of

the things she did she wore her old dresses to

sleep in and that's how she dressed. And she had

her veils you're covering on. And so she goes up

to this farmhouse and she knocks on the door, and

while they never came for the man, someone responded and

came to the door and opened the door, and they

asked Viola if she's in trouble, and of course she was,

and they brought her inside and the man of the house,

went out back and got a can and got some

gash in it and put it out on the porch

so that if the man come up there he could

see this can of gas. And sure enough he comes

and gets the gas. He takes the gash and goes,

puts it in his vehicles and leaves. But Viola was safe.

The man, of course, was caught, and there was a trial,

was taken to jail. But why you know that happened

to Viola. It is things that we experience as children

of God. But what is so wonderful tonight is that

Viola went on to live a victorious Christian life as

a godly woman. Later she married again, and her children

are a blessing. We still love meeting her children. They're

scattered in different states and places, but we still enjoy

meeting her children and family. In our yard at home

where we lived until three years ago, there were four

huge pecan trees, probably this big, around at least probably

eighty plus years old. They produced pecans, they did. Two

pecan trees experienced a real storm in a dark time.

Two pecan trees experienced a dark hour. One of them

took a bolt of lightning and bark flew and pieces

flew from the tree. It took a direct a strong bolt.

Another one of those big pecan trees had a big

limb that was blown. The wind was blowing so hard

it broke it off. So both had an hour of darkness.

But the outcome of those two trees was so different.

And I want to tell you about those tu pecon trees.

But tonight, can I please insert how would it look here?

What would we see if suddenly all the emotional and

spiritual wounds and scars that we carry would be would

be shown and be evident? You know, how would I

look here tonight? How would you look? I want to

come back to the pecan tree, but please a few

more things I carry on my arm. It's the biggest

scar of my body. There was that day when I

was running a steel brush up high on an ibeam,

a big heavy steel brush, I mean a rotary brush,

and it caught the steel and it flipped down and

that steel brush just went right into my arm here

and just mauled it open. It looked absolutely horrible. Tonight,

I'm thankful that wound is healed. And you know what,

there was someone that also knew what wounds were that

helped make it possible for it to heal. I was

thankful I could go to the house and there was

someone there that also had a scar, a wound, that

knew what to do about wounds. And that's just how

we sometimes need each other to help us deal with

the wounds and the scars that we have. How would

it be tonight if I would need to show you

on my arm this wound that happened twelve fifteen years ago,

and it would still be oozing, and it would be

we would have all those you know, it would be

pussing and smelly, in rotten, and the flesh would be deteriorating.

That would be really awful. And I just want you

to know that the Lord Jesus, he really wants to

take your wounds and turn them into scars and then

into stars. How does that happen? Someone has put this together.

I really like it. It's put together in the form

of the Cross. Don't try to hide your scars their stories.

For a hurting world of wounds, only Jesus can heal.

How can we let the Lord turn our wounds into

scars and the scars into stars. We think about what

Jesus himself. Did Jesus himself hung on the cross, He

had nails driven through his hands, in his feet, a

spear piercing to his side. Those wounds healed quickly, and

he didn't just waste those scars, did he? No, he

did not waste those scars. A very few short days

after that happened, he met with the disciples that were troubled.

And remember was it the first night we thought about

you know, behold my hands and my feet. And then

he showed them those wounds that had turned into scars,

and they became stars. You know, think of how Thomas's

darkness was turned to light when he could when he

could see those scars and even place his hands in them.

Tonight there might be open wounds on these benches, maybe

some that have been there a long time, or maybe

all of you have allowed the Lord to pour in

oil and wine and they're healed. We want to encourage you,

as we think of victorious Christian living, to let them

bring it to the Lord. And sometimes we have to

have others help us. I'm so thankful Bertha cleaned up

my wound. You know, I needed her badly. I didn't

know what to do with this wound open flesh tore open.

It wasn't look like a cut, it was like ripped open,

like just flesh. And I needed to go to her

and let her clean it up and put in the

sad and bandage the wound. Don't be afraid of doing that.

Don't be too proud to just confess to your brother,

your sister. I just don't know how to handle this wound,

and I've tried to overcome it, but it's something I'm

still battling with now. Sometimes we can just take it

to the Lord in prayer and we overcome. And that's

what we want to get to in a moment here

about how to do that by the grace of God.

But sometimes we need each other. And I'm so thankful

for all the times brothers and sisters have come to

pour in oil and wine into my wounds and help me.

There are so many ways to allow the Lord to

help us turn our wounds into scars, and those scars

into stars. I think that's what Annie Johnson Flint did.

She didn't just live her life bemoaning the fact that

she had gotten those scars. She actually wrote songs and

blessed others with it, and for that we thank the Lord.

It glorifies God. When we triumph over those wounds we have,

and we all have them. We get hurt. Sometimes we

have people that hurt us so badly, sometimes unthinkingly, unknowingly.

By God's grace, those can be turned into stars that

will bless someone and make a difference in someone's life.

I think of Morris Yoder at home. Some of you

would know Morris. He's presently our bishop there. And by

the way, can I just share with you. I really

want to share this with you about the co ministers

at home because to me, their example is something for

us all to reach out to and endeavor to be.

I'm so thankful tonight that I can tell you that

the four co Ministers, the ones that God has allowed

me to serve with at home, Praise the Lord. There's

not a one of them like that Carot we were

looking at today, or the Onion. There's not one of

them that has their own agenda. There's not one of

them that wants to make their mark. You know, Brother

Morris was or Dane bishop a little less than two

years ago, and he could so easily want to make

his mark. I'm wanting to do things this way now,

different than what they've been done for twenty years. You know,

there's just like, I mean, I know he's a real

person and he struggles, but I've not since any of that,

and he's just more like asking and how do we do?

And how do we do? And I just want to

bless the Lord tonight for those kind of co ministers

to work with. And I pray God would bless you

as a congregation with everyone having those kinds of hearts.

It is what makes church life beautiful when we can

all have that kind of a heart. Morris, when he

was five years old, his dad was killed in a

farm accident. It was a Sunday afternoon and a bull

attacked him, and that was so unusual and amazing. Alan

was one of the most careful men in our congregation.

He was such a close friend of mine, my first cousin,

and when he died it was the parting for me

of the closest friend I had parted with up to

that time. Morris was a little boy. He had what

five sisters. I think he was the only son, and

suddenly daddy was gone. Now, you know, we could think

of many stories tonight that wound. It hurt deeply. It

was a big wound. And we know there's many cases

where someone then becomes bitter and hard and cold and

the wound has never healed. But for Morris, you know what,

it's just so wonderful that he responded. You know what

he did.

He started thinking about heaven where is Daddy went. And

he started looking up into the skies where Daddy went.

And he started studying the skies and the stars. And

he got telescopes and books.

And started reading and studying about the universe and the creation.

And I could tell you and just about ninety nine

percent sure that the other night when we had the

red moon, that Morris was in his observatory. He is

a observatory and powerful telescopes there, and he even has

a roof that he can that rolls off of that

back off of that observatory, and he can do all

that from his house and then just look up into

the heavens, into the skies and he blesses all of

us at home. That's what we want you to be

and to do. A little boy that could have been

angry at God for the rest of his life, he

could have he could still be bearing that wound tonight,

but he's somehow he worked through it. Now wounds have

to heal, and maybe maybe you're here tonight and you

have a fresh wound, and so it's not wrong to

have a wound. But what we don't want to let

happen is to have a wound that goes on for

years and years and years, and it affects her life

and it starts defining who we are, because you know,

after all, they treated us so bad, or what happened

in my life or what God allowed to happen is

so difficult, and tonight it's still we want it. We

want to let the Lord pour in that oil and

wine and let it heal so that it can become

a scar, and then of all things, it can be

a star that can be used to bring glory to

God in a way that we could have never done

it otherwise. By the way, I think I almost forgot

that this is down here. I don't know that I

ever showed this year before a very special bowl that

Japanese have a special technique. It's called kintsugi. It's where

they take broken pottery and they have a special technique

a way of putting it back together. It's a five

step process, and we don't have will take the time

to talk all about but each one of those five

steps have something to do with healing and with bringing

together and you know, the glue and the sealer. And

I do want to say this that in the end

that's actually gold dust on this ball. They put gold

dust on there. Gold is expensive, but it's supposed to

be actually whatever gold on this ball gold dust. Tonight,

I can hold up this cup and tell you that

it has more character and value today than it did

before it was broken. And even so in your life

going Yola's life has a message and a testimony, and

so does this ball, and may it so be your life.

The third point this evening hit that ball. You know,

Jesus was tempted, severely tempted. He didn't eat for forty

days and forty nights. And what did the devil do

but tempt him to turn stones into bread? Does the

devil like that? Really know? Are weak areas? The Bible

tells us he walketh about as a roaring line, see

seeking whom he may devour. The devil does many things

to destroy our lives tonight, just this is something that

at least helps me, maybe it can help at least

one of you. It's what I sometimes think about. Actually,

I fairly often think about it when I'm tempted, when

I'm tempted with the first one I pull up here,

when I'm tempted with mal Wow, malice, you know that's

something that can be in my heart right now tonight,

I could be I could just be a little bit.

I mean, it's not there. Well, I mean it doesn't

mean I never struggle with it, but malice would be

like if I'd be a little bit happy tonight, if

if something just doesn't go good for brother Leland. After all,

he's richer than I am. Sometimes it just seems like

things just go so good for him, and way down

in there it feels a little bit good when it

goes wrong for someone else. Oh that's malice. Jesus never

had it. We want to repent of it. But that's

a ball the devil is throwing at us. And I

would say tonight, it's like we're all in the in

the batter's mound. We're all individuals before the Lord. We

have individual choices to We're in the batter's mound, and

no one can swing the bat for you. You have to

be the one to do it. The rest of us

around you are encouraging you and telling you hit that ball,

And in a moment, I want to say, why another

ball he throws at us his discouragement. And he's a

fastball pitcher, he's a curveball pitcher. And sometimes our young

ones are in the batter's mound and they've struck three

times and the law says they're out. Thank God, there's

grace at mercy. I remember the one year I taught

school and there were sometimes those There were certain students

that got up and they had three strikes, and there

was mercy even on the opposing team, to let them

try again. And tonight, as long as you have the

grace to cry out to God and say God, I'm sorry,

and you're repent, and help me hint that ball. God

has mercy. He wants to throw the ball of fear

and doubt. Do you know what it is? You know,

it's one thing to want to live a rebellious, sinful life.

It's quite another thing, my friend, to have the devil

tell you your sins are so great you can never be forgiven,

and you want the Lord with all your heart, but

he says, it's no way that is hard, anger and lushed.

When Jesus was tempted, how did he overcome the devil?

He overcame the devil by quoting the word of God.

That's what I want to encourage you to do. The

Bible talks of the Word of God as being the

sword of the spirit, and that's what comes to my mind.

That's what I like to think of when I'm tempted

with one of these things that are mentioned on these balls.

Take the word of God and hit that ball, and

then the goal is to knock it completely over the

fence and out where it will never be brought back

against us again. And you know how it is. Sometimes

we just hit a little nibble. Sometimes we barely make

it at first base. Sometimes we've had three strikes on

one of these things. But the Lord is able to

make all grace a bound toward us and give us

the strength to get up again and hit that ball.

I want to encourage you tonight. Maybe one of these

things mentioned on these balls is something you have struggled

with and you have just fail. You're in bondage to it. Tonight,

we rally around you and we say hit that ball.

We want to tell you how and the best we can.

But you know a way that victory comes is when

we we might be tempted with malice and then we

think about it. This morning, you know, we thought about

it thirteen times. The Bible says love one another in

the New Testament, and we get the word of God,

and we confront the devil's temptation in our life with

the sword of the spirit, the word of God. And

it's just like taking that bat and knocking that ball

out of the court. And that's why we say tonight,

hit that ball, and so that you would when you

are tempted, you would think about you'd ask God to

give you a verse in his word that's going to

help you knock it out over the fence. Please let

me share this amazing testimony with you tonight as we

think of victorious Christian living overcoming. In the hour of darkness,

the clear voice of a woman singing could be heard

in the narrow streets of Monchal, Germany. It vibrated against

the buildings, it caught the people's attention. A crowd of

monks and officials were passing along a street toward the

river in there midst was the singing woman, her face

as bright and clear as her voice. Although she was

obviously a prisoner, Maria seemed to have the only cheerful voice,

the only cheerful face in the crowd. She had been

arrested by the bailiff a year earlier because she was

a Christian and had been baptized as a sign of

her faith. The bailiff had threatened her and had even

tried to bribe her. He wanted Maria to attend the

state church. Since she consistently refused, she was condemned to

be drowned. They brought Maria down to the water's edge,

but did not throw her in for two and a

half hours. They enticed her to leave her faith. Maria,

it will not go well with you. Look at the water,

whispered one. A little boy picked up a stone and

threw it. It splashed into the river, and the circles

widened from it, spreading over the surface. The water shimmered

and looked so cold. Maria could almost feel the shock

of it suddenly enveloping her. But then she spoke, I

adhere to my God. What God began in me many

years ago will be finished today. She took off her

shoes and prepared to be thrown in. They tied her

tightly so that she could not swim, and so she

was drowned. But her spirit, we believe, went to God,

and there she would have been numbered with the martyrs.

And I will conclude with this true story as it

relates to restoration and healing, wounds being turned to scars,

and scars to stars. I'll tell you at the end

of this story who this was that did this. There

was once a wooden chest, beautiful and new, but with

time it became old, broken and ugly, and finally, after

being considered almost worthless, it was stored in an attic

where it would slowly ride away. There it sat in

a corner for many years. It became very dirty and unsightly,

and finally, after many years, the owner died. The day

then came for the children and grandchildren to go through

the belongings. In the far corner of the attic sat

the old, worn and ugly chest. The handle was broken,

the inside was warped, the metal parts were very rusty.

Most of the group said throw it away, it's worthless

to me. But there was one special someone that took

a second Fluke. She saw beneath the dirt and grime

something that could be restored to beauty and usefulness. And

my mind goes to melt Trotter. I won't tell you

much about his story, you probably know it, but he

said he was so low, had to reach up to

touch bottom. But thankfully the Lord saw him too. But

this was someone that saw in this something that could

be restored to beauty and usefulness. She said, I would

like to have it, and from the group, wonder was

expressed that anyone would want the old chest this special.

Someone then took the chest she saw beyond the fault

to the need. She worked for hours, cleaning, scrubbing, sanding,

and bending, and finally the day came when the old

chest was varnished, painted, and restored to its potential beauty.

Today it is a very useful chest. You may find

within it many useful valuables, all because someone was willing

to pay the price of binding up that which was broken.

May God be praised for this example of spiritual restoration

that in so many ways resembles what Jesus has done

for us. And thankfully it was Bertha that saw something

of worth and value in the chest. And took the

time to restore it, a type of how Jesus comes

and restores us. That psalm that was read this morning,

Psalm twenty three, He restoreth my soul. We praise God,

God's blessings to you