Why Pain and Suffering?

We haven't been in the field ministry as long as the Fosters. They have had 52 years, but we've had over 30. I think back in places where we have served and these names and situations come flooding back to my memory. I went to Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Oh, 30 years ago now, I guess. A family from the Jackson, Tennessee church was down there with a newborn baby, and she was in an incubator. I don't even remember all of the issues, but little Kristen didn't get a very good start to life. When I went down there to be at their side and get all dressed up from head to toe so you can go back in a sterile area, they gave approval for me to use a little olive oil to anoint her since it was for our religious purpose. The couple there with their first child, the pain was just unbelievable for them.

A number of years later, we lived in Lubbock, Texas. The phone rang and the family asked me to come to the Lubbock General Hospital. I've known lots of hospitals far and wide. Thankfully, I haven't been a patient there very often. I went to Lubbock Hospital that day, and this young man, there were two men in the church who were physical brothers, but they farmed and ranched together. During the summer, there were a number of the other boys from the congregation out working. As boys will be boys, they got horsing around in the pickup. Some of them in the front and some of them in the back. They went off the road and I think it just laid over on its side. One of the young men in the back got thrown a compound fracture of the right femur.

The boys somehow got the truck back on its wheels, picked him up, and the foot was completely turning backward. Picked him up, got him in the truck, and they drove up to the farmhouse. Thank God, with jagged bone edges in there, nothing was severed and damaged nerve-wise or blood vessel-wise. He walked with the limp years later when I saw him. I looked back in the congregation this morning. There's Tyrone Elrod. Oh, it's been probably over three years now that he and his wife were driving. There was a car wreck. The car kind of teed right into his side. I went to see him two or three times in the trauma unit up in Nashville. He doesn't even remember that I came to see him. I can imagine that. But it has been a slow, a slow but sure recovery. If I think back a bit longer, I think back to California, and in Bakersfield, there was a man who was probably late 70s. He had had diabetes for a long time, and it reached a point where the doctors just said, we're sorry, but we're going to have to amputate both of your legs around the knee. And I went to the hospital to see him. And you know how hospitals sometimes this longest hall, and I start down the hall to go to his room. And it turns out his room was the one way at the end of the hall, and the doors open, and he sees me coming. And he's down there waving me on.

And I got in there, and he said, Mr. Domsen, I walked in here at 5'8", and they say I'm going to leave at 4'2". And then he just laughed! But he was always that way.

Then there was the young family from the Lancaster California Church. Not long before we moved to Kingsport, but she was from Hobbs, New Mexico, and during Unleavened Bread that year, they went out to see her family in Hobbs. And they were there, and he was, the young man was playing with, they had three little kids, and he was playing with them on a playground, and he somehow jumped to reach for a little bit, to reach for something, not knowing there was a bar right above him, the butt of his head went right into it, and it shattered a couple of vertebrae in his neck.

Well, I was able, when we were going cross-country with our move, I, well, I made an early trip and took two Labrador Retrievers, but that's another painful story. Dad lost that family vote four to one, as far as what to do with the dog.

So, anyhow, I'm driving cross-country with two dogs, and I go through the hospital, Odesso or Midland, wherever it was, and I stopped, and I was able to see him, and it just totally rocked the lives of that young family. And yet, the kids were happy to come out and meet the dogs.

And it was a highlight of the trip for the dogs, too, I'm sure. The stories could go on and on. I have a question. You know, there's a couple of sermons I've been waiting for the right time to give them. This is one of them. But there's never a good time to ask the question, why do we have pain and suffering? And the other one is on the healing of grief, because it seems like there's something awful that's always happened to somebody in a congregation, and once in a while more than one.

It's been a tough week with seeing what a new widow is going through up in Milford, Tennessee, and what the whole family is going through. A young lady who turns 13 on a given day ought not then later find out her father dies of a heart attack, that her grandfather dies that same day. Why pain and suffering?

It's one of those questions we struggle with, and I suppose we will always struggle with these questions, because I don't think that the answers are always that easy. In our old hymnal, from the latter years of worldwide, what was it, the maroon or blue, maroon, agree, whatever, the last one that we had, there was a hymn that I especially liked. I have a book at the house that's just simply titled, One Hundred One Hymn Stories, not hymn as H-Y-M-N.

One Hundred One Hymn Stories. And some of the rest of the story is told. The book is written by Kenneth Osbeck, and he tells the story of a man named Horatio Spafford. And I want to read a portion from that. Some months prior to the Chicago Fire of 1871, Spafford had invested heavily in real estate on the shore of Lake Michigan, and his holdings were wiped out by the disaster. Desiring arrest for his wife and four daughters, as well as wishing to assist Moody, he was a follower of the evangelist D.L.

Moody, who was over in Great Britain. As was wishing to assist Moody in one of his campaigns in Great Britain, Spafford planned a European trip for his family in November 1873. Due to unexpected last-minute business developments, he remained in Chicago, but sent his wife and four daughters on ahead, as scheduled on the SS Ville de Havre. He expected to follow in a few days. On November 22nd, the ship was struck by an English vessel and sank in 12 minutes. Several days later, the survivors were finally landed at Cardiff, Wales, and Mrs. Spafford was able to cable her husband two words, saved alone.

Their four daughters did not survive. Shortly afterward, Spafford left by ship to join his bereaved wife. It is thought that on the sea near the area where his four daughters had drowned, Spafford penned this text, whose words so significantly describe his own personal grief, when sorrows like sea bellows roll. It is noteworthy, however, that Spafford's hymn does not dwell on the theme of life's sorrows and trials, but focuses attention in the third stanza.

On the redemptive work of Christ and in the fourth stanza, anticipates his glorious Second Coming. Humally speaking, it is amazing that one could experience such personal tragedies and sorrows as Spafford did, and still be able to stay with such convincing clarity. It is well with my soul. You remember the hymn? It is well with my soul. When peace like a river tendeth my way, when sorrows like sea bellows roll, whatever my lot has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.

And in that third hymn, he does write of the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin, not in part, but in whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! And then in the final hymn stands a... And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trumpet shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even though it is well with my soul. And in the chorus, it is well.

I want to give you four purposes for pain and suffering. The first one is that pain and suffering draw us closer to God, or at least focus our eyes upon God. Spafford's story continues to amaze me. He went on. He and his wife had yet other daughters. And at the end of his life, they had moved to Israel with mission work in the little country called Israel.

Job chapter 2. Job chapter 2. We turn here just simply to show that even Satan the Devil recognizes the basic fact of human frailty that if you want to get someone's attention, just afflict their body. And when a person hurts, we tend to be all eyes and ears. And sometimes when we hurt, we ask that question that we too many times forget about. And we ask, is there a God?

Is he working on my life? Does he have a plan and a purpose for me? Job chapter 2, beginning in verse 3, And the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without cause.

So Satan answered the LORD and said, Skin for skin, yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse you to your face. And the LORD said to Satan, Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life. Yes, if a person hurts, he is all eyes and ears. Job, of course, as we know the rest of the story, Job came through. Job did not curse God to his face, as Satan thought, but by hurting, by suffering greatly, by having three friends that come along and pile on, the end result is he saw things he couldn't see otherwise.

There was a man. He lived in Plainview, Texas. The man's wife was a church member, and he was a very antagonistic husband. He had emphysema, and as the years went by, I was a little ill at ease when his wife called me and said, Carl, I want you to come by at the hospital and see him. And that visit didn't go very well. He was angry at the church, at God, and I was kind of the one he vented at, and I listened. But God wasn't through.

He went home for a while, and he came back. He was in the hospital again. This time he asked his wife, Please have your minister come see me again. That time I anointed him, prayed for him. But we talked for a long time. He asked about God and God's plan. He asked about the resurrection. And shortly thereafter, his life ended. But you know, through the process of pain and suffering, God was preparing the seedbed for seeds to be planted.

I think when he comes up in his resurrection, it'll be a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. Pain and suffering got his attention. Isaiah 38 Isaiah 38, verse 1, In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death, and Isaiah the prophet, son of Amaz, went to him, and said to him, Thus says the LORD, Settle, or set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.

And Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed to the LORD, and said, Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, Go and tell Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD God, the LORD the God of David, your Father, I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, surely I will add to your days fifteen years.

And I will deliver you in the city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city. And of course, it goes on with the story of the sign that he was given. Hezekiah was one of the better kings of Judah. And the illness, the pain, the suffering, led him to look for God, and to seek a far closer relationship with God. And he repented far more deeply when he thought he was about to die. We all have our own stories, probably within our own families. You have children, you have lots of stories.

I remember when we lived in Memphis. I was at a time when we were awfully hesitant to think about going to see a doctor. But we had a little girl, not such a little girl now. She's about as tall as I am. But she had a kidney infection. And I remember sitting there with her pain and agony, and just crying my eyes dry.

And a few years later, living in Lubbock, Texas, we had this little caboose who had come along to the family named John. And his eyesight, the alignment strabismus, it's called, the alignment of his eyes. If he'd turn one way or the other, the eyes would turn up. And apparently it's a simple surgery. But it's not very easy at all whenever you see them wheel your little boy back in behind that place where you can't go any further.

And I sat in the waiting room that time and cried my eyes dry. You have your stories. I have mine. We often puzzle about God, what He is doing, what He is allowing. Sometimes we have things that come along and there's anger. There's anger toward God. But the fact is that there are so many things that we only learn by suffering and by pain. And I suppose the greatest tragedy would be to be afflicted and not learn a thing.

Psalm 119. Psalm 119, this lengthy, beautiful Psalm. And we read verses 67 and 71. Psalm 119, verse 67. Before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now I keep your word. I suspect somehow, someway, we can all kind of sign our name to the bottom of that statement. When things go well for us, we human beings so easily forget God.

But when we hurt, we want to know how do we find Him. 71, it is good for me that I have been afflicted. That I may learn your statutes. I've read a number of books written by Robert Fulgham. There's one of his many stories, just in passing.

He mentions an example. The example is that of... that many times in life, it's kind of like a jackass caught out in an open field with a hailstorm coming on. There's no place to go for cover. And all that animal can do is stand there and take a beating. So many times, life is that way for us. We just have to stand there and get pummeled.

Understanding comes later. Wisdom comes later. And through the process, we become different. The Life Application Bible, in its introduction to the book of Job, it makes this simple statement. For Job, the greatest trial was not the pain or the loss. It was not being able to understand why God allowed him to suffer. But through suffering, it builds endurance, humility, patience, love. It builds obedience, like Hebrews 5, verse 8 says of Jesus. Though he were a son, he learned an obedience by the things which he suffered. And so do we. And a while ago, we read the story of Paul.

He besought God those three times to remove this physical affliction. And God told him, no. Lest you be exalted above measure. He wanted Paul to learn that through weakness, he becomes strong. And when we suffer, God wants us to come looking for him. Number two is that pain and suffering draw us closer to each other.

It draws us closer to each other. A fascinating thing to watch is a flock of sheep out on the plains whenever a thunderstorm comes up. Animals will react differently. Some will scatter. Cattle, you'll have little groups here or there, but they kind of scatter. Goats will scatter. Sheep do what is called huddle. If there are a hundred sheep there, they all huddle together as one big quivering mass.

Now, many times in the Bible, we're called sheep. And I think there are more parallels there than we realize. At times, we forget how much we love each other. At times, we forget how much we need each other. And sheep, in time of a storm from without, rush together. And those on the outside are constantly moving to the inside and those on the inside toward the out, and just continually moving and quivering and huddling together.

And I suppose there's a safety in numbers from the onslaught of a storm that they do not understand. And there's a comfort that comes by facing it together. Times of trials, times when we hurt, times when we suffer, allow the rest of us a chance to come rushing to huddle at the side of the one who is hurting. We speed to the other side. We're not promised an age free from sickness and pain and suffering. We're not even promised freedom from death.

But rather, we're told that it is appointed to men once to die. Tomorrow is promised to no one. And we look back at things we have suffered, and it's a part of the ongoing training program that God has for us. We sometimes pay a price because we live in a society. I think there's a parallel back to ancient Egypt, where we recall with the pouring out of the plagues on Egypt that brought the great superpower Egypt to its knees.

That those of the Israelites up in the land of Goshen, the early plagues fell on them as well. The blood, the frogs, the lice. And then there was a line drawn. A distinction was made. They paid a price by living in Egypt. And we live in a society here at the time of the end that's likened to Egypt or Sodom or Babylon. Take your pick, which biblical emblem.

And we pay a price. We call America the land of the free, but we can't turn on a water spigot and drink water that is as God created. So much of our food has been improved by human beings. Improved in quotes. Genetically modified. And we pay a price. We pay a penalty.

We have dementia, Alzheimer's, that seems to be running rampant in this country. Type 2 diabetes. So many things. Cancers of different types. So we are not exempted from pain and suffering because we are in the church. We're told to go out into the world. Matthew 25. Matthew 25.

We'll begin in verse 34.

God gives us the number of criteria by which we can assess our own spiritual growth and status. And one way we can judge ourselves is that of how we respond to those who are in pain, those who have great needs. Matthew 25. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom, prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. And I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, etc.? And in verse 40, the king will answer and say to them, Assuredly I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me. And God wants us to be in the process of learning not only a deeper obedience, but a deeper love and concern and care, one for another, by the way that we respond when others are in pain. Romans 12. Romans 12, verse 9. Let love be without hypocrisy. The Greek word there speaks of playing a role, an actor playing a part. Let it be from the heart. Let it be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Clean to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another in brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging indulgence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. We huddle in times of threat or pain or great loss. Suffering and pain have a way of jerking us out of our own little world. They remind us that we are not the center of the universe. They remind us that there are lots of people out there who rely upon us in times of great hurt or great loss. Number three. Pain and suffering focus our eyes on the kingdom of God. The Life Application Bible. The beginning of Job 42, which is kind of the climax of the story. That's where he says, you know, I've heard of you, but now my eye sees you. But in the notes that are made in leading up to their discussion of chapter 42, the following is written. Throughout the book, Job's first book, Job's friends had asked him to admit his sin and ask for forgiveness and eventually Job did indeed repent. Ironically, Job's repentance was not the kind called for by his friends. He did not ask forgiveness for committing secret sins, but for questioning God's sovereignty and justice. Job repented of his attitude and acknowledged God's great power and perfect justice. We sin when we angrily ask, if God is in control, how could He let this happen? And that is because we are locked into time, unable to see beyond today. We cannot know the reasons for everything that happens. Will you trust God with your unanswered questions? Sometimes if you want something you can really chew on and struggle with for a long time, pick up Philip Yancey's book, Disappointment with God. Philip Yancey, Disappointment with God. He basically looks at the story of Job and those unresolved questions. Those times when God is silent, we ask deep in our heart, God, are you there? God, do you still love me? God, do you have a purpose and a plan for me? Sometimes, and again, the book of Job, there are times when we are not given answers.

Pain and suffering focus our eyes more intently upon the kingdom of God. These solidify our hope in and focus our minds upon the coming full realization of the kingdom of God over all the earth. We gather here on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is a forerunner. There is this millennial Sabbath that is yet ahead for the people of God. There is a time when the law of God, the peace that hopefully we enjoy on this Sabbath that we get a little taste of anyhow.

We look to a time when the kingdom will be spreading over the earth for a thousand years as the initial phase. We have prophecies that... In fact, let's look in Isaiah 35.

There are prophecies of a time of healing, a time of renewal, of building the old wastes, as another chapter says.

The early verses, verse 1, verse 2, speak of the desert blooming and blossoming like a rose. Verse 4, Say to those who are fearful-hearted, Be strong, do not fear. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With the recompense of God, He will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. The ears of the deaf shall be unstomped. The lame shall leap like a deer. The tongue of the dumb... I wish they translated that as mute. The tongue of the mute sing. The water shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool. It paints this beautiful picture of this restoration of the physical world. As a forerunner of what happens to the human family. Verse 8, a highway shall be there in a road. It shall be called the highway of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it. But it shall be for others, whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. Verse 10, the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. And to that we can pray Godspeed that day. Colossians 3. Colossians 3, we are reminded to focus our eyes upon the things that are above. Colossians 3, verse 1, if then you were raised with Christ, referring to baptism, seek those things which are above where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

Yes, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, they looked for that city whose builder and architect is God. They looked for a better resurrection. They looked for better promises. And we too, when we experience pain, when we suffer, when we are faced with great loss, this leads us to focus our eyes on the kingdom of God, of what God has planned for all of us. We are sobered quite often. In this physical life, we oftentimes stop and we look around, we look at life, and we ask that question deep down in our heart, is this life all that there is? And the resounding answer from the Word of God is no. This is a training experience, that there is eternity yet ahead. No. 4. Pain and suffering prepare us to accomplish God's will in our lives. Pain and suffering prepare us to accomplish God's will in our lives.

Yes, there are many times when we just stand there and take it.

And we ask why. In time, sometimes the answer comes. There is a bit of understanding that is given, perhaps. But oftentimes there are still those unanswerable questions. Through the process, we become different. We change. I, again, in our own families, we've all had our times of great loss. This week, I've got some photos on the wall in my office. And I caught myself stopping and looking at a photo of my parents. And it's been a long time since I lost my mother. I was just 27 years old. Long time ago.

But I remember she suffered horribly with cancer. We lived down here in Birmingham. We were a long way off.

And we prayed. And we fasted. And I knew God was going to, in time, raise her up. And boy, was I ever shocked when the call came that she didn't make it. And we loaded up to go to Oklahoma. There was a time of a lot of anger. A lot of anger toward God.

But, you know, with time, we began to heal. We probably all had injuries. You know, we've had places where we've had cuts on our body. Maybe it's been stitched up. Maybe not. But it's, you know, you have a serious cut. You go, it's cleaned, it's dressed. Again, maybe stitches, maybe not. Bound up. On a regular basis, you change that. You clean it. You disinfect it. And whatever. And then the time comes, you don't have to bind it up anymore. And for stitches, the stitches are taken out. You don't need those anymore. And it's red, and it hurts. And it's still healing. And maybe it itches way down in there. And it heals. But there's still that scar.

It reminds you of something maybe long ago that happened. I think some of our emotional wounds and losses are the same way. We go through those steps. We go through those stages. And we heal. And in time, understanding comes. As I came out of the fog at that time after Mom's death, I remember beginning to pray to God that He helped me to understand. Be careful what you pray for. Be careful what you pray for. Because, again, there are things we only begin to see by hurting.

Let's go to John 16.

John 16.

Saw a movie years ago called Shadow Lands. Shadow Lands. The actors were Anthony Hopkins and Deborah Winger. It was based on a story of C.S. Lewis. He, late in life, married a woman named Joy. And then she was sick and was dying. Earlier in the movie, preaching a sermon made this statement. He said, the pain becomes a part of the happiness. And I still puzzle with that in part. But I also can look back and see that, yes, the joy has been turned. The sorrow, rather, has been turned to joy. That's what God is doing within us. Because there are other people in the here and now who need help, but there'll be a whole lot more people when the return of Jesus Christ takes place. They're going to be looking for answers, looking for people who can lead them down the path to healing.

John 16.

Well, verse 16, he said, A little while you'll see and you'll not see me. And again, a little while you will see me because I go to my father. Of course, the disciples didn't know what he meant. And they're talking among themselves. Jesus, verse 19, knew what they were wanting to ask. Let's go to verse 20. Most assuredly I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. And you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman when she is in labor has sorrow because her hour has come. But as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world. A lot of you in this room have had that blessing and that love to give of yourself. And then I watched it happen three times, watching someone go through horrible agony. But when the child was born, it didn't matter any longer. And we're kind of going through our birthing pains right now. That with time, as we suffer, as we experience pain, our minds are focused upon the things that really matter. We focus on the purpose for why we are here. And we're able to devote our lives more completely to the purpose God has for us. We can face adversity and help others. We can see others face great pain and hurt and comfort them. You look at what we face. Some of our families, we have seen those struggle with the horrors of alcohol abuse or illicit drug abuse. We have so much dementia in this society. We have cancers. Surely some of you ladies know what a miscarriage does to you. We have those who lose limbs, like my friend Jack out in Bakersfield. Not everyone's able to laugh about it the way he could. We have those who go through divorce, lose a job, or betrayed, or have someone very near and dear to them die. At the time we stand there and we take our beating, but over time we begin to realize that God is building something within us. Something we didn't have before. Something He wants to use to be able to help other people. Now, the Sabbath, again. We look to a time of the Millennial Rule of Jesus Christ. You look at the prophetic outline as we understand it, and we have a final period of time called a time of Jacob's trouble. A time of trouble such as the world has not seen.

Now, our Christian race may go so far and then end with death. We awake in the first resurrection as the glorified saints. And others may live up to the time when Christ returns. And as Paul said in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, the last trumpet, the dead will rise and we'll be changed. But at that point, as resurrected, glorified sons and daughters of God, think of what those people will have just come out of. We read of plagues and revelation where to these were given the power to kill the fourth part of men. I don't think we can really comprehend it. We can get a glimpse if you go back and study, go back and read some of the liberating armies and what they found in areas in Europe and in the Pacific after World War II was coming to an end. And we're going to have people coming out of a Holocaust. And they're going to be looking for answers. They're going to be looking for someone to lead them down the road that they must travel. Turn to 2 Corinthians 1.

2 Corinthians 1. And we read verses 3 through 7.

1 Corinthians 1, verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation. He does not say he takes us away from tribulation, but he gives us strength when we're in the midst of it. So here's why. That we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation, or the marginal note says comfort, the words are used interchangeably, also abounds with Christ. Now, if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. For if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope for you is steadfast, because we know that as you are partakers of the suffering, so you will partake of the comfort. People are going to come out into the millennium, live on into it. And a thousand years later, a thousand years later, 3rd place in 20 speaks of a great white throne judgment.

The great, small, or the dead, small and great standing before God, and the books are open, and they're judged according to their works. And think of how these people lost their lives. And they're going to be looking for comfort and looking for answers. And who do you suppose will be there to take them by the hand?

Look around you.

Look around you at the people of God, who by pain and suffering, in this life, are being finely tuned as the tools of God for the work that God wants and has for us, not only today, but in the world which is yet to come.

Revelation 21. A few of us were up at a funeral the other day, and Mr. Keller's did a wonderful job. Wonderful job, short and sweet. We're out of the graveside service in a light rain.

But he mentioned Revelation 21, verse 4, is his favorite verse in the Bible, and it's certainly one of mine as well.

Revelation 21 speaks of a new heaven, a new earth in verse 1, a new Jerusalem in verse 2. God dwelling with men, verse 3. Verse 4. Quoting from back in Isaiah, And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Verse 7, He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. So, it is, for whatever it's worth, my observation that this congregation, like I told Murphree's brother this morning, is well on its way in taking steps to becoming the tools of God in offering comfort, feeling, and strength to others in need.