The Absolute In The Midst Of Chaos!

On that final day. Amen. Do you believe this

morning? Hallelujah. So good to see you in the

house of the Lord. If you have your Bibles, you

turn with me to John's Gospel, the 18th chapter.

John's Gospel, chapter 18. So good to see you

in the house of the Lord this morning. I hope

and trust that today is just not a check -the

-box day, just because it's Sunday. But I pray

and trust that you've come to experience and

to encounter the most holy God, and that His

Word enable you to go another mile. empower you

in victory for another day. For it's day by day.

Amen? Old songwriter penned it well, one day

at a time, sweet Jesus. That's all that I'm asking

from you. Teach me, right? As we're getting ready

to read our text in our... prayer as we'll pray

over. Remember Brother Matthew Geislinger. We

thought yesterday the initial report might have

been a heart attack. They had to fly him to Erlanger.

Turns out it was a massive stroke. And last word,

I hadn't gotten an update this morning yet, but

his last word, he was still in an induced coma

last night. So let's remember, Brother Matthew

and Sister Linda, that the Lord move in a mighty

way. Amen? And encourage and strengthen them.

Matthew's Gospel, chapter 18. I want to read

at verse 36. Start at verse 36. To give you just

a little background as we start in here, Jesus

is before Pilate. This is nearing his crucifixion

and the punishment of sin that would be put on

him for us. And this is part of that encounter

with Pilate. Jesus answered, my kingdom is not

of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,

then would my servants fight. That I should not

be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom

not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him,

Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest

that I am, or you say correctly. To this end

was I born. And for this cause came I into the

world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.

Everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Pilate said unto him, What is truth? And when

he had said this, he went out again unto the

Jews and said unto them, I find in him no fault.

At all. With the help of the Lord for a little

while this morning, I want to preach on this

thought. The absolute in the midst of chaos.

The absolute in the midst of chaos. Father, I

love you today. I thank you for the power of

your word. Lord, I need your help this morning.

I need your touch. Touch this flesh. Touch my

spirit, Lord. It is so willing to be obedient

to you. Touch my tongue as I stand as orator

of your truth. I ask, Father, that as I surrender

myself to you, use me as you see fit. And over

this household of faith, I pray, Father God,

that we that have ears to hear would hear what

the Spirit said to the church. We'll be quick

to praise you for it all. In the mighty name

of Jesus, amen and amen. You can be seated. The

absolute in the midst of chaos. A few years ago,

pollster George Gallup said, the problem is not

that Americans don't believe. It's that they

believe everything. So therewith, we find in

extreme cases in any given church on a weekly

basis, church goers. Who believes in everything

from channeling. And even born again Christians

who daily consult their horoscopes. To see how

their day is going to go. Ghosts and goblins

and everything else. Church goers, born again

believers who actually believe in luck. I'm about

to bust a few bubbles. No such thing as luck.

I had a good Baptist brother teach me that one

day as we were riding to work. He taught me that

lesson that if God is sovereign and you're one

of his, then you're blessed and favored. Has

nothing to do with accident. God blesses you

intentionally. And so therefore if there's no

such thing as good luck, then there's no bad

luck. Jesus said they hated me and they're going

to hate you. He said in this world it's going

to rain on the just and it's going to rain on

the unjust. Everybody's going to get a little

wet. So it's not bad luck. Because you got wet.

It's not bad luck because one tree took out half

the transportation of one family. Not bad luck

because a storm blew a tree over and the tree

landed on the cars. Got nothing to do with luck.

Just happened to be the way the wind was blowing,

Brother Henry. That's just the way the wind was

blowing. Right? But on any given Sunday in any

given congregation, we... we have these belief

systems at work. The question is, how can we

as a church help folk discern what is of God

and what is not? That's the whole jest. Spiritual

warfare is by and large a battle for the mind.

And if the enemy can control the mind of the

believer, he can control them. He controls us

through emotional situations. Some emotions run

high. Some folks' emotions run low. But he can

determine a lot of our behavior or how we will

react by what we believe. And he plays against

the belief. We just sung it. Do we believe? You

do know that the spiritual struggle is for the

same instruments in this world. God desires to

use you for good, and the devil desires to use

you for evil. God's plan is to bless you. The

enemy's plan is to destroy you. That's it. It's

that simple. It's not complicated. It's very

simple. So spiritual warfare is a battle for

the control of the mind. The seals figured this

out in their training. I preach a message every

great once in a while when the Lord moves on

me. I had a bell on a pole, and I preached, don't

ring the bell. Don't ring the bell. There's a

motto during Hell Week that if you don't mind,

it doesn't matter. Isn't that the truth? Things

that you don't mind get disrupted. It doesn't

matter. But things that you have thought over,

things that you are really concerned about, if

the devil goes to messing in that, he's got you

all blown up. So we must take great care. Understanding

we live in an age of spiritual deception. To

deceive simply means to mislead by falsehood

or to lead in error. to delude. It comes from

two different directions. It'll either be concealment

or misrepresentation of the truth. Isn't that

the way Eve fell? There was a misrepresentation

of the truth. There was a half -truth that the

enemy gave to her, right? You're surely not going

to die. God didn't really mean that. You're not

going to die. I mean, surely he wouldn't do that

to you. Go ahead and take a bite. You know, and...

The deception set in, oh, well, okay, I'm not

going to die. But not only did she die, but now

the rest of us. Because it is appointed unto

man once to die, then to face the judgment. Remember?

So when we understand this concealment of truth

or misrepresentation of truth. Two types of deceptions.

There's satanic deception from the one who is

the father of all lies. He is a liar. You understand

that, right? He's not a liar. He is a liar. You

understand that a half -truth is still a whole

lie. That's where the deception comes in. The

devil feeds you enough to get you to bite and

to play on his deception. And his deception,

if we're not careful, ends up destroying our

very lives and our very faith and our very hope

and our very trust. Psalm 36 and 2 says, For

in his own eyes he flatters himself so much,

too much to deceit or hate his sin. If we're

not careful, there's this self -deception. The

enemy, the father of all lies, who is the one

who comes out with satanic deception, then if

we're not very careful, we deceive ourselves.

We get so flattery in our own eyes. And what

was it Paul wrote, said a man not to think more

highly of himself than he ought to, right? Unless

that pride brings him down. Well, we know that

the pride of life and the lust of the flesh,

what it works in our life. Amen. Pride goeth

before fall, the haughty spirit before destruction.

And the two of these work out this form of witchcraft

in our lives, and because it is an allusion to

truth. Now, I know it's slow this morning, and

hopefully it'll pick up as we gather a little

momentum. Understanding Galatians 6 and 3 declares

it, if anyone thinks he's something when he's

nothing, he deceives himself. James put it this

way, be you doers of the word and not hearers

only, deceiving your own selves. We go around

blaming the devil for a lot of stuff that's not

his fault. You've heard the little funny about

the man passing the devil by the side of the

road. He's sitting on the stump crying. He said,

well, what are you crying about, devil? He said,

well, they blame me for everything. Everything

that transpires in a negative form in our life

is not always the devil's fault. At some point

in your life, you got a man up or woman up, hike

your britches up and look in the mirror and say,

you done that. Hello. I know that hurts. We don't

like to admit that one. I don't. But there's

times I have to look at myself and really get

right because it's the man in the mirror's fault.

I've deceived myself. And many times we deceive

ourselves and the enemy has nothing to do with

it. He don't even have to sow the seed. Our flesh

will sometimes sow the seed of its own. And then

we end up caught in deception. And ourselves

deceive. Like this deception. If a man say he

has no sin, he better be careful. Right? If he

says he's without sin, we deceive ourselves.

And the truth is not in us. You know, the man

that says, well, you know, I'm perfect. I'm sinless.

I won't look at him and say, well, no, you just

gave one. Well, what? You lied. You just told

a big one. And last I checked, lying is a sin.

So you can't say that. Because the way I read

the book, there's a place for liars. All liars

have their place where? In the lake afar. What

my preacher used to say. Far is hotter than fire.

Guarantee you. The way he preached it, it sure

felt like it. The answer to deception is to walk

in truth. We must walk in truth. And I think

Pilate poses a great question that is still going

through. We still see the argument today. It's

still debated on this very stage of life that

you and I are living in. What is truth? And Pilate

poses that question to Jesus himself. This question

echoing through the ages of time. Listen to this.

Was it a wistful desire to know what no one could

tell him? Was it a philosophical... Philosophical

cynicism. I'll get it out. Baby, that wasn't

that funny. I'm plowing up here. I'm hooked up

double trace and I've got a furrow going. And

I'm trying to get going, so don't be laughing

at me down there. That brought more joy to me

than you'll know. Pilate's question, cynicism

concerning the problem. To know true the depths

of knowledge? Is that what his inquiry was about?

Was it a response of indifference to anything

so impractical as abstract thought? The question,

what is truth? As Pilate poses to he who is the

truth. Was it an irrational irritation to Jesus'

response? Did he feel slighted by how Jesus responded

to him? Only time and eternity is going to tell

us what the question really was because he didn't

even give Jesus time to answer. As we read the

text, he just turns around and walks out. As

though he is having this deep self -reflective

moment. Pilate, who is respected, his authority,

his power. People feared Pilate's word. Was it

a response from the conversation at breakfast

with his wife? Honey, have nothing to do with

this just man. I had a dream about him last night.

Let him be. Leave him alone. Free him. Was it?

that type of irritation that his wife would dare

so to question his judgment. And then Jesus is

standing before him. He said, are you a king?

Well, you say rightly, right? He tells him, my

kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom was

of this world, then my servants would fight.

I think we could draw a little something from

that right there. We are passive in this world

right now because our Savior came, our King came,

and he was passive. We were passive and should

remain passive as possible. We should do our

level best to love those who are the unlovable.

But Jesus said, if my kingdom were of this world,

my folk would get their dander reared up, and

it'd be on like donkey kong. It's what Jesus

is saying. He's saying, if this was my kingdom,

my people would be. empowered by me, and they

would rise up and fight. Because Matthew put

it this way, the kingdom suffereth violence,

and the violent take it by force. When we begin

to understand the inclination of Jesus is this,

right now, if this was my kingdom, then it would

be mine, and my people would fight for it, and

the victory would be mine. I'd have loved if

it had just went on a little bit further. Oh,

Pilate, there is a day coming when I shall return.

There'll be an army with me and we'll be riding

on the white steeds of victory. I'll have my

sword in my hand and the word of truth will come

out. You want to know what truth is, Pilate?

You will see it one day when I return and then

my people will fight. But right now we're in

passive mode as we are endeavoring to witness

to the love of God. and the love of a Savior

who is confronted. who gives his petition forward

that I should not be delivered. It is now, you

say correctly, I am come this very time into

this world that I should bear witness unto the

truth. Everyone that is of the truth heareth

my voice. The absolute in an age of chaos is

the fact of absolute truth. And I'm here to tell

you today in the world and the culture in which

we are living in, Truth is at a premium. Amen.

Truth is at a premium. We see it on newscasts.

We see it day in and day out. There's these fact

checkers. Amen. Everybody wants to be a fact

checker. Can I tell you all facts are not always

truth? But truth is always true. Hallelujah.

You can configure facts and you can come up with

any truth that you want to end up with because

in our culture and in our society, Webster says

truth is simply this, a conformity to fact or

reality. The Bible speaks to the issue of truth.

Listen to what the Word of God says in Isaiah

59, 14, and 15. Truth has stumbled in the streets.

Honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be

found. Again, in Jeremiah 7, 728, truth has perished.

It has vanished from their lips. In Daniel 8

and 12, truth was thrown to the ground. And we

hear and understand it, 2 Timothy 2, 3 and 7,

always learning but never able to come to the

knowledge of the truth. That is the world in

which you and I are living in. People want to

subtract themselves and draw away from what is

truly absolute truth. In our world, there's only

one. an absolute truth, and that is Christ himself.

There is no other. There is no standard whereby

to measure truth by unless it is measured by

Christ himself. In a world that is filled with

different types and definitions of what truth

really is, there is several different ways that

people see truth. One is truth is objective.

Objective truth is what exists and can be proved.

In the physicality. It's what can be proven by

science in this world. It's objective. There's

normative truth. Normative truth is what we or

as a group of people agree to be truth. It becomes

normative. It's the normal standard of what truth

is. We see that all around us, don't we? People

deceive themselves into what is truth. And if

they get somebody to agree with them, it becomes

the standard whereby they live. But that's not

the standard whereby we'll be judged. And could

I not preach right there for just a minute, but

that'll come later maybe. That is not normative

truth, objective truth. These are not the truth

whereby we will be judged. There's subjective

truth. Truth that is how the individual sees

or experiences the world. In other words, it

would be like to say today is a good day for

me. It may not be a good day for everybody, but

the truth of the matter is it's a good day. And

your life may be falling apart. There may be

trees on your young 'uns' cars. Hello? They may

be balled up in a ditch somewhere in an accident.

That's not a good day. It's perspective. It is

perspective. It's subjective. It's how we see

it and how it applies to the moment in which

we're living. There's a complex truth. Complex

truth recognizes the validity of all things and

all those truths and allows you to focus on the

one that is most useful at any given time. That's

a pretty complex idea, isn't it? We can just

vary our concept of what truth really is. And

how truth affects our lives. But then there's

the absolute truth, a statement that is true

at all times and in all places. It is something

that is always true no matter what the circumstances.

Can I tell you? That's Jesus Christ. That's who

that is. He said he was the truth. Amen. John's

Gospel, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

And what that word truth in the Greek actually

means, the state of not being hidden, the state

of being. Being evident, it means reality. When

Jesus declares, I am the way, he says, I am the

reality. I am the unhidden one. I am the matter

of fact of life. I am the way of it all. I am

the truth of it all. And when we live in a culture

that is so divided and there's so many more evidences

of what people and how they define truth that

I don't have time to get into it. But I guarantee

you, if I could go through all the definitions,

I'd find yours in the middle of it somewhere.

But as a blood -bought, born -to -be, Again,

Holy Ghost feels sanctified child of God. There

is only one measure for you and I, and that is

the measurement of the absolute of the reality

that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and

the living and the essence of what life is all

about. That's why you have to be careful with

fact and truth. Facts were Goliath was over nine

feet tall. But the truth was, he's going down.

Hello? The facts were, David's a little ruddy

redhead boy. Holly's got the sling and five stones

headed at him wide open. The facts were that

Philistine was a mighty warrior. The facts were

the whole army said, we're just going to send

one guy, and if you can beat him, we'll bow.

That's pretty confident if you ask me. Amen.

That's very confident in the ability of the man

that you're sending out there. And the fact was

Goliath had never been defeated. That was a fact.

But the truth is he had never faced David either.

Hallelujah. The truth of the matter is David

is going, and he's hearing the threatenings.

He goes in defense. of the name of the Lord.

He has got, can I tell you something this morning?

If you are going in the name of the Lord your

God, the Lord your God will fight your battle.

And the truth is, when it's all said and done,

you'll be holding the sword of your enemy and

your foot will be on him and his head will be

in your hand. My God, it's time that we understand

the absolute to the truth that belongs to the

child of the living God. God is on your side.

And if God be for you, The truth is, who can

be against you? The fact is, the world's set

against you. But the truth is, it doesn't matter.

For greater is he that's in you than he that

is in this world. That's the truth. Right? So

facts present themselves. But I don't live by

fact. I live by faith. And the truth of the matter

is, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing come

by a Gideon Bible left in a hotel room drawer.

It comes by the word of the living God. It comes

by the word of the living God. And John declared

it this way. In the beginning was the word, the

logos. Hallelujah. In the beginning was the word,

the written, the substantiated, the truth of

the Lord God Almighty. In the beginning was the

word and the word, the rhema. Hallelujah. That

fresh daily morsel that comes from that manna

that comes every day. The logos. My God, I'm

about to give you a revelation today. If you

want to be victorious. in your life. Hear the

declaration of these three little words. It is

written. Hallelujah. The absolute truth is declared

in the word of the living God. I'm getting too

old for that. I used to say fat and old, but

I'm not as fat as I was. Hallelujah. Is written.

The absolute has been declared. Truth. Reality.

The unhidden fact. Is Christ. The truth of the

word of God. Fact says the enemy is coming against

you. But truth says no weapon formed against

you. Shall prosper. Huh? Facts say disease is

riddling my body. The truth says by his stripes

you are healed. And let me just go ahead and

clarify something today. He can heal me now or

he can hear me over yonder. Either way, I'm going

to get healed. Either way, he might as well just

wait and heal me when I get over there. Because

if he heals me of a debilitating disease right

now one day, another one's going to hit me. And

this old body's going to have to give it up.

There is, according to the word, the truth, the

absolute of God, there is a sickness unto death.

Unless it's the rapture, honey, me and you going

by the way of the grave. I just soon we all go

together. I just soon we hear the horn and come

running out the door. Hallelujah. I just soon

to hear my ride blow for me and I go out to meet

him. Hallelujah. I just soon it be that way.

But the truth is we're not all going there. way.

The truth is that some of us are going to go

by the way of the grave. But the fact says this.

We may be dead, but the truth says we're going

to live again. The truth says the trump shall

sound. The archangel's going to shout. And then

those who are dead in Christ, they shall rise.

And those who are alive and remain shall be changed.

And together. That's the truth. Facts say it

looks like the devil's winning. Look at your

own family. Look at your own lives. Facts are

pretty clear. Everybody wants to be a statistician

these days. Right? I love the term they're using

on the news now for fact checkers. They call

them receipts. I got to look at it and I said,

well, that ain't a receipt. Then I thought, well,

yeah, that's a receipt, all right. Huh? Fact

checkers. But when the truth comes down, everything

is measured not by the fact, but it's measured

by the truth. And thus for mine and your lives

as well. Facts look pretty damning in our lives,

don't they? The reason I keep picking on Henry

back there is they, them and the Cross family,

they've had a rough, they've had a rough week.

Garrett totaled his truck. Well, he didn't. He

got totaled. Storm comes through, blows a big

tree down on two and a half of the three cars

at Malachi and Emma's. Get a phone call from

my mama and her voice is breaking up. Pastor,

you got to pray. Yeah, we're going to pray. Amen?

The fact is they're destroyed. The truth is they

got insurance. They still going to have to pay.

The truth of the matter is when we go through

those obstacles and circumstances like that,

yes, we're devastated. Ken's been through a pretty

rough one. He and Sister Rita, they was going

to revival the other night. Got rear -ended and

told to read his car. The other morning after

one of these towed stranglers during the night,

the temperature was about right. It was so foggy

the other Thursday morning. I believe it was

Thursday. It was so foggy you couldn't hardly

see up Eureka Road. And how many know that these

fine folks have been paving our road? Yep, Jesus.

That's a fact. But I'm going to tell you the

truth of the matter. Some other time. I better

just stay on track. Truth of the matter is, that's

not even blacktop. What that stuff is. We had

a perfectly good road. Can I just vent just a

moment? I hate the devil. That's the truth. That's

the fact and the truth together. Ken's coming

down to help mow the churchyard the other morning.

Foggy. Ran right into a lady parked in the paving

traffic. No warning. Dense fog. Flaggers way

up the road. No caution light. Ran plumb all

over him. Told his truck. But the truth is. Nobody

was hurt. Nobody was hurt. That's the truth.

For the Lord's on our side. He goes before us.

He prepares a way before us. But then it don't

always work out so good. The fact is, Brother

Matthews at Erlanger and I see you. That's the

truth and a fact. But the truth of the matter

is, if God so wills, in the next 30 seconds,

they'll have to let him out. If God so wills,

that's the truth. That is the truth because the

absolute is this. By his stripes, we are healed.

And no weapon that is formed against us shall

prosper. And any tongue that raises itself up

against you, it shall be cast down. And if you'll

go back up a few verses and read, you'll know

why. Because the Lord in his word declares that

he owns the forges. He owns the smiths. You've

got to get a good clear picture of that. It doesn't

matter if the enemy is trying to forge a weapon

against you or not. God owns it, hallelujah.

And he says it will not prosper. And if he declares

it, honey, hold on for the ride. Christ is the

absolute truth. And absolute truth is all that

sets us at liberty. You shall know the truth.

And the truth shall what? If you're not free,

get a little truth. If you're bound up, get a

little truth. If the devil is exercising victory

over your life, then that's your fault. You've

been deceived. How so, pastor? Because greater

is he. I've just told you that. The truth is

greater. Not less than, but greater than. He

that is in you than he that is in this world.

Get it in your head, child of God. You are the

victor. And the victory we have is because of

the victory that Christ has won and proclaimed

for us. Thus, death holds us in the grave, but

truth says, oh, grave, where is? Oh, death, where's

your sting? Where is it? It's lost. It's swallowed

up. Look, look, look, look, look. I've told you.

This world is the devil's best shot to get you.

And if you get it fixed in your mind that the

absolute truth overrides the chaos that he causes

in this world and the confusion that goes on

around you, if you get it in your head, he clarifies

every situation. We get... I preached too long.

Too late now. We fail to adhere to the truth.

And we allow chaos to ensue in our minds, thusly

our lives. Yeah. And we allow the confusion.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and

the earth, right? According to the book, the

earth was void and without form. And the Holy

Ghost was there. And then God said. Okay? From

that statement to where you sit today, God has

said it all. There is no calamity in your life

what the absolute truth of God's word does not

prescribe a remedy for. We get so hung up on

the carnal. We get so hung up on the fleshly

part of this life that we fail to remember we

are in this world. But you, according to the

truth, are not of this world. And the only affections

that this world can set on you is what you allow

to remain on this flesh. But if you'll allow

your spirit to rise up in you. And let your mind

be as the word declares. Let this mind be in

you that was also in Christ Jesus. Hallelujah.

If you can get the mind of he who is in you that

is greater. If you can understand that this ailment,

this calamity that's coming against me is all.

The devil's got. And every day, like I told you

a while ago, there's an addition of grace that

is a proportion to you and I every single day.

God doesn't have to move the problem. He doesn't

have to run the devil off. He doesn't have to

heal you now because the truth is it's all going

to come to pass. Hallelujah. It's all going to

come to pass. So devil, and he has, and he continues

to take his best shot. And he will continue to

take his best shot. Why? Because that is his

main modus operandi, to steal, to kill, and to

destroy. But that's not what my mind is focused

on. My mind is focused on the absolute of the

truth. Jesus said that I have come that you might

have life and that you might have it more abundantly.

In the middle of the chaos, there's an abundance

of joy. In the middle of all hell breaking loose,

there's a peace that comes from on high that

passes. all the understanding. There's a resolve

that sets in that lets you know that because

you are his and he is yours my God the devil

has no control over you. Absolute in the midst

of chaos. Just a show of hands if you'll be honest.

How many of you got a little chaos going on?

Hmm, I think I might have preached the right

one today. We got some chaos going on. We got

the devil on a rampage. But you need to understand,

though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after

the flesh. But the weapons of our warfare are

mighty through God. to the, come on, say it with

me, to the pulling down of strongholds and taking

into captivity every thought that exalts itself

against the knowledge of God. Amen. I love it

when Paul wrote to that church at Ephesus and

he said, brethren, when you've having done all

to stand, go ahead and stand and I'll know to

quit. When you've having done all to stand, Stand

therefore. I'm going to give you a little water's

parallel. Son, when you get on your feet, don't

let him knock you down. When you get up, you

stand up and you stay up. Amen. I feel like Job

sometime when Job had gone through the whirlwind

of life. Amen. And he's on his face and then

out of the whirlwind of life, out of the chaos

of life, he hears a voice that says, Job, stand

up like a man. I've got something that I want

to tell you. Job had been through hell. Can I

tell you? Amen. He lost everything that he owned.

He was a rich man. Now he's a pauper. Amen? He

had a great family. He had ten children. And

in one fell accident, it wasn't an accident,

it was an onslaught of the enemy. On one fell

afternoon, all ten of his children were taken

from him. Job had a loving wife, a very supporting

wife. And in that day, overwhelmed by the grief

and sorrow, she looked at Job. And I owe her

an apology one of these days. And the Lord's

willing, I'll give it to her. I give her a hard

time. something? I haven't birthed from these

loins ten children. Hello? I had carried ten

children in this body, and I don't care what

the lefties say today. Ain't no man going to

have no baby. Well, we might pass a kidney stone,

which is equivalent. No, it's not ten pounds.

It's a meteor. Where you at, brethren? So she's

looking at her husband overwhelmed. She loves

Job. And I wonder about her question, about like

Pilate's question. I used to think I knew what

her question was, but no. No, I've had to recant

on that and back up on my theology just a little

bit. She said, Job, honey, we've lost everything.

Baby, we buried my children. Every single one

of them. What else is there to live for? What

else is there to go on? Somebody, you may even

be questioning, the devil telling you this stuff

now, what do you got to go forward about? Why

do you keep going to church anyway? You know

he's going to preach an hour every Sunday. You

know he's going to. Best hope we get a break

when somebody else preaches, but not with him.

He's up this Sunday, and you know he won't stop

at 12. So why do you keep going? Hopefully it's

because you know that there's some absolutes

going to be declared and that you're going to

get victory over that lying voice. Job, the fact

was all that stuff happened. That's a fact. The

bottom line was they were broke. Camels gone,

donkeys gone, sheep gone, everything gone. Character

is all that they had left. Honey, why don't we

just turn our back on God? That curse God, that's

a real hard old English phrase. Honey, why don't

we just turn our back on God? Why don't we just

quit God? It seems as though he's quit on us.

Why do you keep serving him, honey? I don't know

if I can. How can you keep on going? How can

you do it? And Job looks at her with tears in

his eyes, no doubt. He says, honey. How can we

accept good at the hand of God? Put in little

waters parallel right here. How can we only accept

the good? And then when the little bad comes

our way, we want to tuck tail and run. Shouldn't

we be able to take the bad with the good? And

the Bible says that in all of this, Job did not

sin against God with his mouth. Oh, it would

be a good place for some of us to keep our mouths

shut, wouldn't it? He did not sin against God,

but he fell to the ground. Eat up with boils

on his body. Sores. Honey. Come on down here

and let's praise God together. The Lord giveth

and the Lord taketh away. But, but, blessed be

the name of the Lord. The absolute truth, honey,

is this. One day, the skin worms are going to

devour my old body. But I'm going to tell you

something, darling. With these eyes, with these

two eyes right here, one of these days, I know

my Redeemer lives and I shall see him. That is

the truth. Father, I love you today. I thank

you, Lord, for your help and your hope. For your

help and your hope, Lord. I'm going to see him

one day, church. I'm going to see him with these

two eyes. I've made up my mind. But Terry, I've

made it up. Now, I've made it up. She can tell

you and them young 'uns can tell you. When dad

gets his mind made up, you're not going to change

it. Maybe I've made up my mind now. Come too

far. Been through too much. Trusted him through

too many things. Not to trust him for the rest.

I've made up my mind. Some of you need to hear

that this morning. We don't know what it's going

to look like. Amen? Who knows? I guarantee you

if you were to ask Job how it would have ended

up, it wouldn't have been like what he had. The

facts are he lost it all. But the truth is, When

God got finished with him out of that whirlwind,

when he told him to stand up, he looked at Job

and said, now where were you at during the chaos

of the cosmos when I said, let there be? Where

were you, son, when I told the ocean and I drew

a little line around the continents and I said,

that's it? That's it. You might get a big wave

every once in a while, but the body remains.

This is it. Where were you when I scooped the

mountains? Where were you when I breathe and

the stars are in the sky? Man's wisdom and his

finite wisdom searches out consolations as far

as we can power up microscopes. If it's another

thousand years before the Lord comes back and

they keep getting stronger and stronger microscopes

to see further and further, you know what they're

going to find? More of the same. They'll just

see into the expanse of God. More stars, more

constellations. I don't know if there's life

on another planet. If God wants there to be,

guess what? There is. And if he made them in

his likeness and his image, they're distant cousins.

That's all I know. Chaos. The truth declares

this. By the time old Job died, he was wealthier

than he was before he lost it all. Double, Scripture

says. And Sister Job was blessed to bear ten

more children. And them daughters, from what

I read, were something else. They were something

to look at. If you read the book, they were beautiful.

Don't you know that that blessed sister, Jo,

she got 10 more children. Somebody says, well,

why didn't she get 20? Because she already had

20. 10 are waiting. 10 are waiting. And 10 are

living. That's 20. How do you know that? Because

see, in Job's day, Job offered up sacrifices

and covered his own children. He made sure they

were covered. I wish we could do that today.

Oh, I wish I could do that today. But see, fortunately

today, we all have the opportunity to have our

own selves redeemed by the absolute truth. Father,

I love you and I thank you. I'll keep ambling

if you don't help me close it. If you're here

this morning and you need some absolute truth

in the midst of your chaos, just come and join

me in this altar.