What If It's Not For You? Luke 2:8-20

The sermon title for today is, What If It's Not

For You? What If It's Not For You? I want to

share with you a brief story. You may or may

not know the name Mark Twain, but Mark Twain

is one of my favorite authors of all time. Not

because of the kind of man that he was necessarily,

but because I really enjoy some of the characters

and the satire that he wrote. It really awakens

people to understand kind of like how people

are, especially what's true in the culture that

he wrote about in the time that he lived. Mark

Twain was once asked to distribute diplomas at

Hannibal High School. He said he could do it

with great confidence because he had never done

it before. And so they offered for him to come

and distribute the diplomas, and he stood up

there and he told the entire audience, I can

do this with great confidence because I've never

done it before. He said, I'm going to distribute

these as they come, and then you may toss for

them afterward. meaning he wasn't going to worry

about making sure that the right diploma got

to the right person. He was just going to give

the diplomas as they were stacked. I don't know

if they were stacked alphabetical or whatever.

He was just like, I'm going to just give them

out however, because I don't know any better.

The Hannibal Morning Journal, the reporter from

that town, reported covering the speech that

he gave. He said, Mr. Clemens then distributed

the diplomas to all the students, remarking,

as they started to diminish, he used to say,

We want to make sure there's enough of these

to go around. And that's a nice one. Take that

one. And so on. Much to the student's delight

and amusement. It was funny because it wasn't

quite right. He wasn't doing it exactly the way

it was supposed to be done. He wasn't being careful

to make sure that they got their own diploma,

for example. Or that he didn't ask somebody how

exactly he was supposed to do it. Sometimes not

doing things quite right sort of tickles our

fancy. Like, oh, I can get away with this. I

can do this a little differently. It's not sin,

per se. I can do it a little differently. But

also realize that the order and the correct way

can be a really big deal. Mark Twain's point

then, and the point of maybe even of that article

the next day, was that the more we know exactly

how a thing must be done, the more pressure there

is to do it right. We say of our children, for

example, you know better. You shouldn't have

done that. We already taught you. You already

heard it. The teacher already said. They even

say it to each other. She said, do it this way.

Right? Once we know how a thing ought to be done,

we start to think that there is a lot of pressure

to do it right. We're going to see a thing that

is done today in the scripture. We're going to

look at this set of verses from a slightly different

angle today. And I think it's a fairly simple

understanding, but it speaks to us. about what

we kind of go through and where our lives are,

what we kind of go through on a regular basis.

So maybe give me a hoot or holler or amen as

we go to Luke chapter 2. And I never push the

Luke 2 · chapter mention

button, so I'll be louder now. Okay. All right.

So Luke chapter 2, in the story, I can actually

Luke 2 · chapter mention

hear myself today. So in the story of Jesus's

birth, Are we good now? Okay, that's better.

All right, I'll be louder if I need to be. I

think it'll be fine. All right, so Luke chapter

Luke 2 · chapter mention

2, we're going to begin reading in verse 8. Tim's

going to do it. He moved. It's probably because

of other microphones that are still on. It should

be fine now. It's a little low, actually. Testing

now. Okay, yeah, we can handle that. We can move

it up and down as need be. Just don't want that

hum for sure. Okay, so Luke chapter 2, beginning

Luke 2 · chapter mention

of verse 8. You're going to recognize some of

it, okay? It's okay. And in the same region,

there were some shepherds staying out in the

fields and keeping watch over their flock by

night. So now we're on the evening, the eve,

if you will, of Jesus' birth. Shepherds take

care of the sheep. They're stinky people. They're

low -class people. They don't relate well to

the highfalutin high -class people. They don't

spend time with Sadducees or Pharisees. They

might hear the preaching of a Pharisee, but if

they did, they sat in the back. You know what

I'm saying? And an angel of the Lord suddenly

stood before them, stood before the shepherds

in the field who were keeping watch over their

sheep by night. And the glory of the Lord shone

around them. So we kind of imagine that as a

bright light. But I submit to you, it may have

been as much a feeling. Just knowing. It's like

when the hair sort of stands up on the back of

your neck and you know something is happening.

Something incredible. And they were terribly

frightened. I mean, they knew who they were.

whether they were worthy to have an experience

directly with the God of the universe, whether

they could approach him, or if he approached

them, what that might be like. They were terribly

frightened. And the angel said to them, Do not

be afraid. That's a great greeting from an angel

when you're terribly frightened. Kind of, okay,

well, I'll try. For behold, look here. I bring

you good news. This is the reason why they need

not be afraid. I bring you good news of a great

joy which shall be for all the people. So in

other words, even though you might feel left

out, you might not feel connected, you will probably

never serve at a high position in the temple

or be elected to public office. Right? I bring

you... Good news of a great joy, which will be

for all the people. Read, all the marginalized,

disenfranchised, ignored, the hopeless, the helpless,

the struggling, the trapped, the trapped in sin,

those who are destroying their lives or having

their lives destroyed. I bring you good news

of a great joy, which shall be for all the people.

For today in the city of David, there has been

born for you Now, everyone knows that the city

of David is Bethlehem. It always has been. And

since David was born there, way back in the day,

they have always known that that was where David...

I mean, he's one of Israel's greatest kings.

Everybody knows David. And they know the promise

of David, that he would have an heir to sit on

the throne, not for a generation or generations,

but for, and this is a big word, eternity. So

they're looking for... Now, The shepherds probably

don't, they may or may not know the prophecy

that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

They may or may not know that. Even the scribes

kind of had to dig for it a little bit in the

other part of the story. So they may or may not

have known that. But it is the city of David,

and it is a place where incredible things might

happen. And the angel, who's already incredible,

is now saying, because this is true, this is

why the joy... The good news that I bring you

about the great joy which shall be for all people,

he says, because today in the city of David there

has been born for you a Savior, in that you is

you and me as well. But the fact that he was

born for shepherds was significant. And let's

not kid ourselves, they knew also they were sinners.

Who is Christ? That's the... Greek word for Messiah

or anointed one. He is the one who would be expected.

The one who will carry out the job that the Lord

has pointed to, which is saving all mankind.

And they knew, being Jewish men, they knew that

the Savior would not only be for Jews, but also

for Gentiles. You see it all throughout the New

Testament. And these are men, even though they

weren't Pharisees and Sadducees, these are men

who memorized huge, huge batches of scripture.

Okay? This person is Christ, the Lord. Big, big

impact in the Lord. The Lord is a person who

tells you what to do, and he does it, and you

do it. And then you're going to see a little

something different as well, before we're done,

that the Lord does. In verse 12, it says, and

this will be a sign for you. So, okay, cool.

What's the sign? We're going to need a sign.

We're going to go, we want to know this is true,

right? Zechariah needed a sign. He kind of got

one. He was mute, right? He couldn't talk. After

he had to promise. Mary didn't really ask for

a sign. She said, let it be to your bond servant

however you say. But she got one. It was your

cousin Elizabeth is six months pregnant with

a baby well after child rearing age. And her

husband's well, well after child rearing age,

right? So there's a sign for you. And so they

don't ask for a sign. The angel says, this will

be a sign for you. And then in my Bible, I see

a colon. And so that's not in the original language,

but it means. Here it is. This is the sign that

you'll see. And we're expecting what? Glorious,

amazing things. Mountains knocked down and made

flat trails, brought wide. No, it says, you will

find a baby wrapped in clothes and lying in a

manger. Now, that's not normal. In fact, don't

do that to your baby, right? Get them some real

clothes or use a blanket, right? But this is

a baby wrapped in... and lying in a manger. The

manger is a feeding trough. And, you know, it

kind of shaped a little bit like a crib or a,

you know, baby could kind of go in there maybe.

But people don't do that. That's not normal.

So this is the sign. It's not his skin glows

and he's radiant. He was born a man. Like he

came out of the womb and suddenly he was 18.

You know, it's not an incredible miracle. It's

wrapped in clothes. And laying in a little feeding

trough. Well, if we find a baby wrapped in clothes

and laying in a feeding trough, he's probably

the one that the angel was talking about. Verse

13 says, And suddenly there appeared with the

angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising

God. Okay, so now we've got not one angel, but

a bunch. And they're all there. And they're praising

God. And they're saying, listen to this, Glory

to God in the highest. By the way, you know how

that's in the Latin, right? In excelsis Deo.

That's the song, right? And so, glory to God

in the highest. And on earth, peace among men.

Oh, wait. That was kind of a big jump there.

We went from, we're going to give God glory,

which we've got to do that. I mean, God is doing

something. God is great joy. Yeah, I mean, he's

got the baby wrapped in a manger or wrapped in

clothes. And it's just a little weird sign. The

sign's a little weird, but we trust God there's

a reason for that sign. And we're just going

to go, this is great what God is doing. We're

going to be excited about that. We're going to

give God glory. Oh, also, we're going to now

have peace between us. That's different. Don't

you respect your fellow man? Don't you care about

other people? Tend not only to your own concerns,

but also the concerns of people who live near

you that you run into on a daily basis. Peace

among men. with whom he, and the he there is

God, is pleased. Brace yourself. God just said

that he has positive feelings about liars, mass

murderers, rapists, deceivers, thieves. I submit

to you that God loves People like that, and he

would desire to have an eternal relationship

with them if they will repent, if they will walk

away from their sin and choose him over the world

system, their own methods, the doctrine of demons,

whatever. That's what God wants. God wants to

bring into fellowship with him the kind of people,

and let's be realistic, right? In the last 2

,000 years, have we not seen it time and time

again? One stands before you today. I was not

worthy of God's love. And I think there's a bunch

of us sitting in the chairs who realize we're

not worthy of God's love. And yet, he has favor

to the point that when there was no mediator,

nobody who could solve this problem, God solved

it himself. And there should be peace amongst

us. He is pleased with us. Now, he's not pleased

with the things that men do. God hates sin. And

when a person is unredeemable, that is to say

when they've gone so far and they will never

turn to Christ, God knows exactly what to do

with them. But that's above our pay grade. God

is pleased, it says, and therefore we ought to

have peace among men and give glory to God in

the highest. Verse 15 continuing, and it says,

and it came about when the angels had gone away

from them into heaven. You ever been like to

a rock concert? and it gets really, really loud

in the rock concert, or maybe working at a factory

or whatever, and you walk out, and it's quiet,

that's the feeling in that verse. There was a

heavenly host of angels singing, Glory to God

in the highest. Now that's a choir for you. And

it rocked the countryside. And then it was gone.

And in the stillness that followed that great

proclamation, They had to decide, who am I? What

am I going to do now? What's next? What just

happened? The ringing still in their ears. It

came about when the angels had gone away from

them into heaven that the shepherds began saying

to one another. They looked at each other, ringing

still in their ears, their hearts probably like

about to explode in their chest, so in wonderment.

And they said, Let us go straight to Bethlehem

then and see this thing that has happened, which

the Lord has made known to us. Not let us see

if this thing has happened that the Lord has

made known to us. But let us go straight to Bethlehem

then and see this thing that has happened, which

the Lord has made known to us. And they came

in haste and they found their way to Mary and

Joseph and the baby. as he lay in the manger.

And when they had seen this, now what is the

this? They made known the statement which had

been told to them about this child. So they told

Mary and Joseph and anyone else who would listen

about what the angels had told them. Verse 18

it says, And all who heard it, wondered at the

things which were told them by the shepherds.

Notice, the shepherds could wonder at the thing

that was told them by God. But everybody that

was there wondered at the thing that was told

them by the shepherds. The shepherds' role just

radically changed, didn't it? Mary treasured

up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

And the shepherds went back, glorifying and praising

God for all that they had heard and seen just

as had been told them. May God add blessings

to the reading of his word. For all that they

had seen and heard, they were praising God and

glorifying him. There are three things I want

you to see in this text that jump out. But I

want you to remember from my illustration of

Mark Twain that sometimes the order, the proper

way of doing things, creates pressure to do it

right. The first thing is the shepherds received

a reassignment. They were in the field. They're

taking care of the sheep. If there would be a

wolf, if there would be a bear. Probably hadn't

seen one in a long time. But if there would be

anything like that, they were prepared to protect

the sheep. They were also making sure that somebody

wouldn't come by and just take a sheep to eat,

you know, or whatever. That the sheep wouldn't

wander off. Sheep are kind of dumb. Slipped and

fall in a hole. I saw a video on Facebook where

a sheep is stuck down in this crevice in the

ground. And they worked really hard and they

got him out. And the sheep goes, don't, don't,

don't, don't, bounding off the field, turn right

around and go back in the crevice. That's sheep.

So they have a job. Their job is to protect the

sheep, and that's their family's livelihood.

They might be second, third, fourth, or 50th

generation shepherds. And God gave them a reassignment.

He said, stop shepherding for now, and go and

witness and proclaim. Now, God doesn't say in

anything that we read, that the angel said to

the shepherds that they were supposed to go to

Bethlehem. Did you hear? He didn't say, go to

Bethlehem and see this thing. However, he did

say, this shall be a sign for you. You will find

a babe wrapped in clothes lying in a manger.

If they don't go to Bethlehem, where are you

going to find that? They're going to find it

when you go home. They're going to find it in

the next town over. This is not going to be found.

That's not a common thing, right? So in order

to see that, in order to find that, they had

to go to Bethlehem. But he didn't say, go to

Bethlehem, did he? He said, this will be the

sign for you. You will find a babe wrapped in

clothes lying in a manger. In order for that

to happen, they had to go to Bethlehem. But he

didn't command them to go to Bethlehem. He simply

said that they would find. He told them what

they would find. He made them a promise of what

would happen when they went to Bethlehem without

telling them that they had to go to Bethlehem.

You catch what I'm saying here? He put the results

that they would get when they decided to do what

they needed to do, what they should do, what

God wanted them to do. He put the results that

they would get in the promise for them before

they decided to go to Bethlehem, before he told

them to go to Bethlehem. That's different. I

want to say to God, God, you tell me what to

do and I'll do it. And then I'll reap the benefits

because you're a wise and powerful God and you'll

reinforce it. You'll give me a pat on the back.

You'll provide. You'll bless me. I want to say,

God, you tell me what to do and I'll do it. What

if that's not how it actually works? What if

God gives us the promises of what he will give

us and then we choose in our free will to do

what it is that God would have us to do, arriving

at the place that he already knew that we would

arrive at to receive the promises that he already

promised. You see, do we have the order out of

place? Stop shepherding for now and go witnessing

and proclaiming was the task of the shepherds.

It was a reassignment, but it was not expressly

spoken in what they were given. It was that they

would find the babe, find the sign. In order

to do that, they had to reassign. They had to

leave their task and go and take on the task

that the God of heaven had assigned them. They

were reassigned. Notice then that there are reactions.

They react. They respond. But notice here that

the reactions, the response are in the middle.

And the results. They began to say, let's go

see this. That was their response. Their reaction

to the angels singing glory to God in the highest.

Their response, peace on earth, goodwill to man.

I want to see that. Don't you want to see that?

And so they said, well, we want to do that. But

the promises had not yet come. Was there peace

on earth? Did suddenly that night all wars end?

You know, many times on Christmas since this

day, there's been a cease of conflict. They'll

do that a lot. In fact, there are many stories

in World War II, for example, where they were

across from each other in the trenches. And they'd

be singing Christmas carols in English on one

side, German on the other, and nobody would fight

that night. So you know, one day, the day that

we celebrate the birth of Jesus, or maybe the

eve of it and the day of it, perhaps, To have

peace on earth. Oh, but some people have turned

Christmas into something altogether different.

Now, the truth is Christmas, as an original holiday,

was sort of a pagan holiday. It wasn't even a

Christian thing. I recently read an article about

a witch, and she says, yeah, you know, I understand

it's pagan, and I've walked away from everything

to do with pagan religion, everything to do with

being a witch, and I am fully Christian, born

again, serving the Lord. And she said, when I

was a witch, I loved... Halloween and hated Christmas.

So now I'm a Christian, and you better believe

I celebrate Christmas, even though it was supposedly

a pagan holiday. It's the one time of the year

that you can talk about the single thing that

matters the most, and no one's going to hassle

you about it. Or if they do hassle you about

it, they really have no ground to stand on because

it's called Christmas. And she said, of course

I celebrate Christmas as a former witch. People

try to say to me I shouldn't, but of course I

do. Here they react in the middle between the

reassignment and the results. There is no peace

on earth. Maybe in the manger. Maybe in the stables.

Maybe in Bethlehem. I submit to you there was

probably a bar fight in Bethlehem that night.

The place was overcrowded. Jesus is being born

and six buildings down is the inn and they're

duking it out over some guy insulted somebody's

mother or wife or something. That's not peace

on earth. So they were reacting, responding to

the reassignment before the results, and that

order is important. And then we see the results.

They saw what they were told they would see,

and they praised God for it. So guess what I

alliterated, didn't I? It's a reassignment, reactions,

and results. I don't do that very often, by the

way, for those of you who haven't heard me preach

much, but I don't do that very often. But the

note -takers in the room are going, yeah. It's

awesome. Three R's. Hey, awesome. It's great,

especially for outlining. Okay, results. They

saw what they were told they would see, and they

praised God for it. They arrived at the scene

of a baby born to be the Messiah, the Savior

of the wealthy and the shepherds, the clean and

the dirty. Of those who knew they needed a Savior

and those who refused that they needed a Savior.

And as long as they don't refuse too long and

miss out on the opportunity, he would be the

Savior of all. They saw what they were told they

would see and they praised God for. That brings

us then already to our conclusion. Notice that

Mary treasured in her heart. And they went back

praising God for what they had seen and heard.

And I ask you, I mean, what was it? Really? They

weren't specifically praising God for angels

singing in the sky. I mean, that would be a reason.

Don't get me wrong. That would be really cool.

Invited to a concert of angels singing in the

sky. That would be cool. But the angels were

pointing to something else. They were talking

about, the angel told them about the Savior who

would be born. And they didn't go, we don't want

to leave because that was such a cool phenomenon.

If we stay here long enough, it might happen

again. Like he might come again with the angels

in the sky singing again. It would be a great

concert to go see a movie. Like that movie is

so good, I'd go again. Nobody does that anymore

because movies are too expensive pretty much.

But they used to do that, right? Like I saw Star

Wars like three times. But anyway, the point

is. We don't do that anymore. But you're like,

I could see this again. Let's stay right. This

is holy. Take your shoes off. This is holy ground.

No, that's not what they did. They said, let's

go see. Let's go right now. So it wasn't that.

It was what they seen and heard that they were

praising God for. And I submit to you, it was

that God, in the midst of conflict the whole

world over, was going to bring peace. And that

you can have, I can have peace while somebody

is trying to kill me or taking a contract out

of my life or cutting me off in traffic or flipping

me off because I wasn't paying close enough attention

to their personal needs at that moment in time.

Whatever. And you can have a peace. That's, it's

there. There it is. Proof. God said it. We have

proof. They're praising God for the sign. He

didn't have to do that. Listen, I want to tell

you right now, I know this for a certainty, that

Mary was not overly pleased to giving birth to

her child in a stables surrounded by animals

and their various excretions to lay her baby

wrapped in leftover clothes pulled out of Joseph's

satchel in a wooden box meant for feeding animals,

right? So I'm just guessing about modern -day

women, but I'm thinking that they're pretty fond

of things like epidurals, nursing care, soft

beds, although they probably don't feel soft

during the actual delivery, I wouldn't guess,

but it's better than laying on the ground. It's

better than laying on a bit of hay or a blanket

thrown over a four -inch pile thick of hay or

whatever. And you don't want to have a bunch

of hay on you when you're having a baby because

there's moving parts involved, right? So there's

a limit to what you can do. And by the way, the

go boil some water? Joseph couldn't go boil water.

That was not existed back then. Exactly. It was

nothing. It wasn't extra blankets. If they'd

had an extra blanket, they'd have wrapped the

baby in a blanket, right? There's no extra blankets.

There's no sanitizing. Okay, she's about to have

the baby. Let me run over here right next to

the chicken coop and squirt some stuff on my

head. No, there was nothing. I don't think that

Mary was overly pleased with having to deliver

a baby under these circumstances. Now, what was

she doing? And trusting God. And this would be

a sign for them. a Savior was being born for

the world. He would be Christ, the Anointed One,

the Messiah, the Son of God, God the Son, and

He would be Lord. That is to say, God, through

Jesus, will be in charge of everything. God deserves

glory. So I say to you, let the light shine on

God. But now I'm going to show you How it's a

little harder than most Christians make it out

to be. A little more necessary. And definitely

doable. God wants peace among men with whom he

is pleased. So be at peace. Oh boy, that's a

big challenge sometimes. He is pleased with men.

So be pleased. You're like, uh, but. She that,

and he that, and they this. And they're putting

stuff on TV, and they're doing stuff out back

of the barn, and they're massacring people. But

they were created in the image of God, and something

of the image of God remains in them still. It

is not your job to have negative feelings about

other people. It's just not. God doesn't do it.

God doesn't have that ever. Even when God hates

sin and destroys people who come against him.

And let's not kid ourselves, he does that. He

does it loving them. And if that's a problem

for you, then you're beginning to understand

the friction of this text. That you could kill

a man and love a man in the same breath. That's

part of what it means to be a Christian. This

would be a sign for them. God is willing to provide.

He orchestrates the events in others' lives to

serve as blessings for us and confirmation. Please,

please grasp the fact today that sometimes the

difficulty that you're going through isn't even

for you. We talk a lot about how when I'm in

trouble, I ask God, what am I supposed to learn

out of this? And I think that's realistic because

we probably should learn from every moment of

life. And so when you're in trouble, there may

be something more poignant, a difficult lesson,

whatever. I'm not disagreeing with that as a

fact. It's probably true. You should. But what

if the greater impact, what if the real outcome

that God is trying to bring about isn't even

in you? Mary was already trusting God. Did for

her whole life, essentially. She said before

the baby was ever conceived in her, so let it

be for your bondservant, as you have said, so

let it be. From the beginning. So did she need

to lay her baby in leftover clothes in a manger?

Was that going to help her in some way? She's

trusting God. She trusted God all through it.

She treasured all the things that were happening,

all the things they were saying in her heart

throughout all of it. Did she need to do that?

What if laying her baby in a manger wrapped in

clothes wasn't for her? Oh, wait. And this shall

be a sign unto you. You will find a baby wrapped

in clothes lying in a manger. It wasn't for her.

That sign was not for her. It was for the shepherds.

We see it all throughout Scripture then when

we're looking for it. In Acts 17, in verse 26

and 27, we'll go there and read it right now,

but you can put it in your notes and read it

later. Paul says that God sets up the boundaries

of all creation. He lays out where nations will

be and where people will be. He sets everything

up so that man might seek him out. And having

found God, realize God was never very far away

in the first place. Understand? But what if the

boundaries of your life, The trials and tribulations

of your life are not only so that you can seek

for God and cry out to Him, but also that those

around you. Do you not understand that when you

seek God and cry out to Him, someone's watching.

There is an audience for you. And if there is

no person to see you devoutly turn to the Lord

God to repent of your sin and follow Jesus in

totality, in earnest, then at the very least,

there is a cadre of angels and demons who are

being witnessed to, for they see. In Romans 8

.28, it says that all things work together for

the good, and I looked this up to be 100 % sure

I had my prepositions in the right place, to

those who love the Lord and are called according

to his purpose. And so this is what we say, and

I'm not saying it's wrong, that whatever we're

going through, ultimately God can make it turn

out for our good because that's who he is. He

can do that. Whatever we're going through, no

matter how bad it seems at the time, he can do

that. But would you consider with me now that

it's entirely possible that the bad that you're

going through is actually there not to produce

a good for you, but to produce a good for others.

Otherwise, martyrdom raises some serious questions,

doesn't it? How on earth was Stephen going to

say, as they were stoning him on the steps of

the temple, as his blood began to pour, as his

bones began to break, and his skull was cracked,

and ultimately laid a heavy stone on his chest

to suffocate him to death, to be 100 % sure he

was dead. That's the process of stoning, by the

way. They throw stuff at you until it knocks

you down. And then when you're down on the ground,

they lay a 40 -pound boulder on your chest so

you can't breathe until you die for sure, in

case you weren't already dead. That's the process.

And while all that's going on, Stephen's going,

God can work it together for my good while all

this is happening. I love the Lord. I'm called

according to his purpose. So one way or another,

this is going to work out for my good. That's

what was going on. Or maybe the apostle. To be

Saul, who was standing by holding the cloaks

of the men who were stoning and being affected

by the stoning of Stephen. And he was praying,

forgive them for they know not what they do and

dying and transitioning straight into heaven.

As that was going on, Saul's life was being changed

by the good that God was going to bring out of

the stoning of Stephen. What if there's a thousand

more or virtually an infinite number of more

times that the bad stuff that's in your life

turns out for the good? Often, I'm sure, of you,

and ultimately we have salvation, so we're in

heaven, and so that ultimately is good. But the

bad stuff is really there to bring about good

in other people's lives, or good overall. I'll

give you an illustration. A disgruntled schoolmaster

handed in her resignation with the following

comment. In our schools today, the teachers are

afraid of the principals, the principals are

afraid of the superintendents, the superintendents

are afraid of the board members, the board members

are afraid of the parents, the parents are afraid

of the children, and the children are afraid

of nobody. Therefore, I resign. See, when you

get things out of order, suddenly, chaos is the

result. But it's not really chaos. It's meant

to look like chaos so everyone will think, well,

it's all over the place and it's all... I can't

do anything about it. And they'll throw their

hands up and there's nothing I can do. Well,

guess what? There is something you can do. There

is something that I can do. And it is the same

process by which the angels handled this situation.

First of all, you can recognize that as a follower,

assuming you are a follower of the Lord Jesus

Christ, and if you're not, you need to become

one because therein lies salvation, therein lies

peace for eternity, therein lies eternity with

God, therein lies forgiveness for your sins.

Assuming you have received Jesus Christ as Lord

and Savior, then you accept your reassignment.

You begin to react and respond to that reassignment

even before you see the results. You might have

to go through a very difficult time yet here

on earth. And when that time comes, you will

go through it. God has already promised you will

arrive on the other side of it. You will glorify

him in heaven for an eternity. And the bad that

you face here may not even be for you. It may

be for others around you who have yet to receive

salvation. Do you not understand, Christian,

that you've already been given the keys to the

kingdom, already given the promise that you shall

not be overcome by the gates of hell? You cannot

be held back. You cannot be brought down. Receive

the promises of God and begin to proclaim them.

That is your reassignment. And in so doing, realize

that when you face difficulty, yes, ask yourself,

what should I learn from this? God, what are

you trying to do through this? And it says it

will give you patience. It says it will give

you strength. You'll persevere, etc., etc., etc.

But you already have the keys to the kingdom

and eternity settled and the Holy Spirit presence

of God in you. What's your problem? Really, what

is it? Oh, I lost a loved one. You have the Holy

Spirit presence of God and you've been given

the keys to the kingdom and will not be overcome

by the gates of hell and will spend eternity

with God. What's your problem? I lost a job.

I love that job. It makes me feel like I died.

You have the Holy Spirit presence and you've

been given the keys to the kingdom and you'll

spend eternity in heaven with God. What's your

problem? I don't have enough money. You have

the Holy Spirit presence and you've been given

the keys to the kingdom and you'll spend eternity

with God. What's your problem? Let's assume for

a moment that you have a real, genuine problem

that you can't do anything about. You know what

those are? Ultimately, they kill you. They take

your physical life, or your mental health, or

both. And you end the journey on this life, at

which point in time you will have the physical

presence, in a spiritual sense, but the physical

presence of God, so you'll be with him for an

eternity, praising him for an eternity, and the

keys of the kingdom that will be left down here

with the rest of us that are left behind to serve

in your absence. Same as they were with Jesus.

It takes no more than one link in a chain to

break in order for the chain to fail. It takes

nothing more than getting a thing out of its

proper place for all the things that depend on

it to be out of place, lost, or collapsing into

a worthless mess. Get your facts straight. When

God commands, we respond. We accept the commission.

Plus, we realize that God loves people, loves

us, and desires what is best. He can work it

out. Trust Him. Turn to Him. Don't do it your

way or any way driven by your desire for the

results. Unless that result is simply making

sure that God gets the glory. Souls are at stake.

It's time we stop worrying about what we're going

through and start living our lives about where

we're headed. Because right now, while we're

going through this as bad as it can get at times,

Souls are at stake. Somebody shared the gospel

with you. Somebody went beyond, you know, if

I listed all the difficulties I've faced or others,

there are people in this room who have been collectively,

we've been through so much. Novels, whole books.

dictionaries of suffering, encyclopedias of what

terrible things can happen in life. In this room

are those who were molested as a child, psychologically

abandoned, who faced life -threatening disease,

who died on the operating table. I'm quoting

actual stories of people that I know in this

room who lost a loved one that was the love of

their life. All in this room. We're not doing

that just to get by, just to earn a better day.

to hope for a better tomorrow. We're doing that

because souls are at stake. The next time you

feel like you've got nothing left, remember,

you've got God, you've got the keys to the kingdom

and eternity ahead with him. Get your butt up

and respond to the reassignment and wait for

the results. Because that's what...