Uncertainty of Life / Certainty of Death (introduction by Achille Blaize )

Introduction: Providence as an Arrow and Spotlight

0:04 Let us read the word of God, written by Luke, or in the gospel, according to Luke, chapter 13. The word of God, written, Luke, chapter 13.

0:24 In the midst of our Lord's ministry and preaching, there seemed to be an interruption. And I shall read to you the interruption, our Lord's interpretation, and the sobering effect of the saying.

0:47 There were present at that season some who told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answered, or answering, said unto them, Do you think that these Galileans were seen as above all the Galileans, because they suffer such things? I tell you nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or of those eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were seen as above all men that dwell in Jerusalem? I tell you nay. I tell you nay. I tell you nay.

1:39 But except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Our sister and her son who were taken, our brother and sister who are presently bereaved, our other brother and his son, critically ill.

2:14 And in the light of these scriptures, the application of the same that applies to all of us, I want to say this much. That in the light of the dark and painful providence, yet wise, the only wise God Almighty has seen fit to mix our days of joy with sudden pain and sorrow, thus reminding us of the brevity and uncertainty of life, the certainty and absolute reality of death, judgment, heaven, and hell. In the light of these strange providences, I believe and am constrained that God in his unfettered sovereignty has broken into our schedule, and we must follow the path his providence has cut.

3:21 I came to the conclusion that Pastor Martin, knowing the doxies very well, having spoken to his parents during the day, and being one of the pastors of our dear brother Jeff and our sister Julie Smith, he should preach tonight instead of me. The decision was not made by Pastor Martin or any of the elders. Having come to it, I consulted Pastor Martin, and he graciously and kindly agreed, or consented, if you like. We know.

4:03 We know that some of you will be disappointed, but we want also to tell you, or we want you to know, that we are not professionals trafficking in holy things.

4:21 And when God has broken through, we must bow down to his unfettered providence. To this end, Pastor Martin, we are gathered under the sovereignty of God, under the dark canopy of his providence and sorrow. Yet in that great presence, come and speak to us the word of the Lord. As this awesome responsibility was thrust upon me just a matter of minutes before coming to this service,

5:17 and I lifted up my heart and asked God what is it that he would say to us, I was struck again with the truth that we hold, and very dear as Bible-believing Christians,

5:32 and that truth is this, that we do not seek to hear the word of God in his providence,

5:40 but we do seek to be sensitive to those portions of the word to which providence points as an arrow, and upon which providence shines as a spotlight. Now, do you see the difference in those two things? When people look out to know the will of God from what God seems to be doing in his providence, they commit great folly.

6:10 Jonah is the classic example of that. From the favorable providences, he could prove that it was God's will for him to get into a ship that was carrying him in the opposite direction from which the word of God had directed him to go.

6:31 But you see, we do not determine the will of God from providence, but as David said, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my pathway. The will of God is revealed in the word of God. But what God does do in his providence is to construct an arrow which points us to certain truths in the word of God at certain times, and under the pointer of that providence, they come home to us with unusual relevance and power.

7:11 Providence writes no new word of God. Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in the heavens. But providence does become God's spotlight to shine upon certain facets of the word which perhaps hitherto we have not duly considered or which, under the present circumstances, it would be sinful not to consider. And so as I ask the question, Lord, what arrows have you made?

7:46 And to what truths of Scripture are they pointing? What spotlights have you constructed? And upon what lines of Holy Scripture are they falling? It seemed very evident to me that the arrows of the Holy Spirit and the spotlights were highlighting at least these four or five fundamental, essential, elementary truths of the word of God.

Truth 1: The Uncertainty of Life and Inevitability of Death

8:17 And I want to say at the outset that they are highlighted as much for the visitor who is among us tonight, knowing nothing of George and Anne Dauxey and their children, knowing nothing of Julie and Geoff and little Margaret, These things are highlighted as much for the person who has the least acquaintance with these names and people as it does for those of us whose lives have been bound up with their lives over a period in the case of the doxies approaching passing several decades. And the first of those truths is this. You and I must face realistically the uncertainty of life and the inevitability of our own death. This providence that God has brought upon us is surely a spotlight that is focusing upon this elementary truth. Of the uncertainty of our lives and the inevitability of our own deaths.

9:36 In Proverbs 27 and verse 1, we read these words.

9:43 Do not boast yourself of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Do not boast yourself of tomorrow. For you do not know what a day, one day, one segment of twenty-four hours may bring forth. Who among us would have known when we met here last night amidst holy joy and laughter, amidst the exuberance of looking upward into the face of our glorious God under the preaching of the word, who could have predicted? That this night there would be sobs and wet eyes and wet handkerchiefs and broken hearts. You and I do not know what a day may bring forth. And God is taking the arrow of His providence and He's pointing it to Proverbs 27 and saying to you, young man, young woman, boy, girl, and all, that you ought to pray because leave your place without a plan, and let lottern say please what there is not again from you, and do not spoken words.

10:59 We must first Гдеer what That was you must gain right now. We got here. We don't want such things. I need to have my breath.

11:00 Say something. Simply. teenager, man with gray hairs and no hairs, woman in the flush of your beauty, woman in the setting sun of your beauty with the wrinkles coming and the gray hairs protruding, you and you and you and you and I do not know what a day may bring forth. God is calling us to face that realistically and with it the inevitability that one day will bring forth your death and mine. And barring those who may be alive at the return of the Lord Jesus, there is only one thing certain from the moment that first piercing cry goes forth. Through the corridor of the birthing room, only one thing for certain can be said of that precious little life, that a day will come when it will breathe its last.

12:19 Whether as in the case of little Margaret, it's a day after the first birthday, whether in the case of little Jim, it's seven years old, whether in the case of some it is three score. In ten, or beyond the bonus ten, twenty or thirty, the scripture says in Hebrews 7, 27, it is appointed unto men once to die. As you sit there, take your fingers, place them by the carter or feel your pulse.

13:04 There's a day coming when someone will press and whisper the words.

13:19 She's gone.

13:22 No pulse, no breath, no life. Do you think there was anyone in this building who would account you a sane man, woman, boy or girl if you now stood up and said, preacher, I object to your assertion. No one will ever press his fingers to my neck and feel no pulse. I have immortality.

13:57 Would you risk everything? At all, being considered half sane, making such an assertion. I ask you. I'm not using preacher's talk.

14:08 I'm asking you, man. I'm asking you, precious little children whom I often hold and cuddle and kiss and snuggle every service. I'm asking you, teenagers, with whom I josh and fool and try to let you know that my heart is toward you. I ask you, visitors.

14:30 And strangers. And I plead with you to give me an answer. Will you cheat death? What's your method?

14:45 It is appointed unto men once to die. Inevitable. And in the light of the uncertainty of life in which we do not know what a day may bring forth. Any day could be your death day.

15:12 Could be my death day. Now, you see, you must not regard that as the ravings of a wild preacher who carries on like a madman with his thundering tones trying to scare us into religion. My friend, can you deny the facts asserted in those two texts? Do you dare to stand here and now and say, wait a minute, I do know what tomorrow will bring forth.

15:41 Do you? You don't even know if you'll see the light of tomorrow. You may fasten your seat belt when you leave this place. You may drive seven miles an hour with four people in your car, each one looking out a different window to try to make sure no fool plows into you.

16:04 And you know what God can make you do? God can make you choke to death on the piece of gum you're chewing in your nervousness and have your slump dead over the wheel of your car with a little lump of gum. God has taken the dark providence, and he's made an arrow, and it's pointing to Proverbs 27, 1. You know not what a day may bring forth.

16:39 Don't boast, either the boasting that says, yes, I will eventually die, but I have many days in which to prepare for death. Oh, yes, I will eventually die, but that's out there, yonder, somewhere, far beyond the sphere of present real concern, and therefore of present consideration. My friend, life is uncertain, and death is inevitable. But you ask the question, Pastor Martin, why is death inevitable?

17:11 I can't argue with you. I've stood by the grave side of my grandmother. I've stood by the casket of my grandfather. I've laid other loved ones to rest.

17:23 I wouldn't be one of those fools who would stand up and try to deny the inevitability of death. But why is this horrible intruder death inevitable? And there's the answer of Scripture that comes so clearly, and there is no other satisfactory answer in all the tomes written by the greatest philosophers the world has ever known. The answer is given in Romans 5 and verse 12.

17:52 Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all sin. There, in those simple words of the Apostle Paul, is the only satisfactory answer for the universality of death. Death comes to the most primitive tribes. In the deepest jungles of the Amazon, and in the Phalim Valley in West Irian, it comes in the sophisticated high-rises, there in that imposing, luxurious strip in Miami. It comes in the hovel of the ghetto. It comes to the educated, the uneducated. Why this universal pale of death?

18:52 And the answer of Scripture is this, because man is a sinner. Notice the language. As through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death passed unto all men, for that all sinned. Sin, death, death, sin.

19:16 No sin, no death. The presence of sin. The awesome, grim reality of death. For, Romans 6, 23, the wages of sin is death.

19:29 Ezekiel 18, for the soul that sinneth, it shall die. And the answer to your question, why this certainty of death, the Bible answers clearly, because you and I are part of a race which, when represented in our first father, Adam, sinned in you. Sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression, and were plunged into a state of death as the living monument of the alienation of man from God, and the horrible judgment of God upon man for his sin. And because we are part of a sin-cursed race, sinners in Adam, sinners at our conception, sinners in our practice going astray from the womb. Self-centered rebels against almighty God and his law. Death reigns where sin reigns. And the reign of death is never broken, except in those places where the reign of sin is broken.

Truth 2: The Folly of Being Unprepared for Death

20:40 But then I move quickly to the second truth that I'm convinced God in this dark providence is pointing to. The arrow made of the sheep. Made of the shaft of God's dealings with the doxies. Feathered with his dealings with our dear friends the smiths.

21:04 That arrow is pointing, is highlighting, is directing us to this second fundamental issue. And it is this, that you and I must face the fact that the greatest folly in life is to be unprepared. For death. These dark providences are highlighting this truth of scripture and I'll turn you to the passage in a moment.

21:38 That the greatest folly in life is to be unprepared for death. Now there are many things that constitute folly in this life. If you were to see a man spend his whole lifetime to amass a fortune. Convert all of that fortune into gold.

21:59 And then he announced to the entire world that he was hiring an airplane. And that airplane was going to take off on an uncharted course over various parts of the Pacific Ocean. And at periods, five minute intervals, he was going to throw out bags of gold to sink to the bottom of the ocean. At some points miles deep.

22:23 Such a story would very quickly earn this man the reputation of a madman. What folly! To spend a life amassing a fortune and then sink it in the depths of the sea. My friend, listen to me.

22:44 There's a greater folly than that. And do you know what that folly is? To be breathing God's air right now. This night.

22:54 And be unprepared to die. On what basis do I say that? On the basis of the gospel according to Luke and chapter 12. Luke's gospel, chapter 12.

23:08 Jesus rebuking a covetous man who tried to embroil him in a family dispute. After rebuking them spoke a parable, Luke 12, 16. And he spoke a parable unto them saying, The ground of a certain man brought forth plentifully. And he reasoned within himself.

23:36 Saying, what shall I do? I have nowhere to bestow my fruits. And he said, this will I do. I'll pull down my barns and build greater ones.

23:47 And there will I bestow all my grain and my goods. Now up to that point God would not call this man a fool. God would call him a good businessman. An enterprising businessman.

24:02 Who recognized that in order to conserve the fruit of his labor. He had to spend money to retain his money. So he pulled down his barns. He went into some capital investments in order to preserve the fruit of his industry.

24:18 And that was not his folly. But here was his folly, verse 19. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have much goods laid up for many years. Take it easy.

24:33 Eat, drink, marry. The life of the retired rich man. Who doesn't need to worry about punching a clock. And taking orders from an executive.

24:46 Or if he's the hot shot, top notch man. Even worry about giving orders. And spending a minute to see if they're followed through. You've paid your dues.

24:56 Now reap the fruit of your labors. Verse 20. But God said unto him, You fool. You fool.

25:09 You fool. You fool. This night your soul is required of you. Why was he called a fool?

25:21 Because he made preparations for everything but the one thing needful. He didn't prepare to die. And I say the providences that God has brought upon us constitute a spotlight of tremendous intensity. They make these spotlights look like flickering birthday candles.

25:48 God has put the spotlight megawatts of light upon this text. And he says not only to this man, thou fool. But he says to you, man. To you, woman.

26:01 To you, precious boy. Precious girl. Young man. Teenager.

26:08 Oh, hear me. He's saying to you. If you're not prepared to die, you're a fool. You're a fool.

26:17 You're a fool. That's what God's saying to us in this providence. And some of you, according to this text, are fools. You're preparing well for your retirement.

26:33 For yourself. For your loved ones. Your insurance is more than adequate to make sure your wife will not starve and your children will not lack necessary education. You've made provision even for your burial.

26:46 And your burial loft is picked out and paid for. And perhaps you've prepaid your funeral. Yes. But what of your never-dying soul?

26:56 What of that soul? That deathless, never-dying soul? That the moment the fingers here register no pulse, the soul flees the body and goes out into the presence of God, there to await the day of judgment, when, if a child of God, the body shall be joined to that perfected spirit. If one who is out of Christ and unprepared to die, that soul that goes to the region of the damned souls to join the rich man's soul in hell, already experiencing the previews of the torments of the damned, awaiting the intensification, when in the day of judgment that soul rejoined to the body, shall soul and body be cast into hell. Surely if this providence says anything to us, surely if it points to any reality of scripture, it points to this. You and I must face the fact that the greatest folly in this life is to be unprepared to die.

28:23 And what a tragedy it is to see little children who are little fools unprepared to die. To see them become teenage fools unprepared to die. To see them become young men and women in the flush and vigor of youth. But young men who are fools and young women who are fools, and to see them become middle-aged fools and old-aged fools and go down into hell.

Truth 3: The One Valid Preparation for Death is Christ

28:55 And then in the third place, this dark providence is an arrow and a spotlight underscoring this third truth of scripture. You and I must face the fact that there is but one valid preparation for death. You and I must face the fact that there is but one valid preparation for death. And what is that preparation?

29:34 I say it reverently. It is a person. Turn to John's Gospel, chapter 11. The setting of this statement of our Lord Jesus is a funeral service.

29:48 The family of Lazarus is gathered by his tomb. Four days have passed since there was no pulse beat. Jesus comes into that scene of mourning, of heaviness, of weeping and of brokenness. And there he chooses with that heavy, morose, somber backdrop to display the glory of his own person and power as the only ultimate and certain answer to the horrible reality of death.

30:28 Listen to his words in John 11 and verses 25 and 26. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes on me, though he die, though he pass through that mysterious, frightening experience of death, when soul and body are abnormally wrenched asunder for a time, he that believes on me, though he die, yet dying, experiencing that agony, that frightening experience of death, yet experiencing it, believing in me, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes on me shall never die. Though he die, he shall live as a believer. If he believes, he shall never die.

31:34 Does he die or does he not die? Well, he does die, but he does not die. Our Lord is not talking double talk. He's expressing one of the most glorious truths in all of Scripture, and it is this, that on the basis of who Christ is and what he did in living the life before the law of God that we should have lived, and in going to that instrument of Roman execution, there to be impaled by Roman soldiers, and to have heaped upon him the scorn and even the spittle along with the verbal reproach of these Jews.

32:16 Wherefore, on this basis, in the light of these great substantial realities, comfort, comfort, comfort one another with these words. Have you ever gone to the funeral of non-Christians who have no hope like this? How do they try to comfort one another by the casket? Have you listened?

32:37 I have. They put an arm on the shoulder of the loved one and they say, Well, he lived a good life. I'm sure all is well. His pain is all over.

32:48 His worst days are behind him. I'm sure you have met...

32:53 Have you heard that drivel as I've heard it? How much comfort can that give when you look upon the lifeless body of one whom you embraced as a husband or wife for years? For a mother who carried that life in her womb and now it lies dead and lifeless in a casket. To me it would be the height of insensitive mockery to tell such a person they lived a nice life.

33:23 You feed on their memories. Feed on their memories while the worms feed on their body. The body I held and felt its warmth. No.

33:34 My soul demands something more. Something substantial. Don't give me marbles and grit and dust to feed upon in my hour of grief. But you draw near to me and say, with your tears mingling with mine, My brother, as surely as that body lies in the casket and will go down into its grave, the spirit is now resting on the bosom of Jesus, fully conscious, fully delighted with the vision, the undimmed vision of the glory of Emmanuel.

34:19 The spirit has left this tabernacle. It has made its way into the presence of the one who was loved though not seen, but loved only in a way that he can be loved when he is not seen. And that spirit now unfettered by remaining sin and a body of decay has been freed to be all it longed to be in love and wonder and praise as it looks upon the face of Jesus. And as surely as Jesus died and took away the full penalty of sin and all that sin brought by way of its curse including physical death, as surely as Jesus died and burst the bonds of death and left Joseph's tomb empty, the tomb of that loved one is going to be empty some day. Isn't that what he says? If we believe that Jesus died and rose, all who die in him shall likewise rise. Comfort with these words.

35:26 I tell you, I have seen bereaved widows and fathers and mothers come to the border of being dancing happy with tears in their eyes by a graveside. The comfort of that reality so permeated the soul that they could barely contain the joy were they not tempered with tears. There was at one time a real man. His name was Billy Bray.

36:01 He was an old miner. And when he was a miner, he was a foul-mouthed, cursing, blasphemous man. And when God saved Billy Bray, God did an unusual thing. The unusual thing was not that he cleared up his cursing mouth.

36:16 If you're converted, God's done that for you. Not that God changed his lecherous, immoral lifestyle. Anyone who gets saved will undergo that change. But God gave him a peculiar baptism of holy joy.

36:32 If the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, God was determined to make Billy Bray a living monument of that last point. And when Billy got converted, he was so full of joy that he was constantly praising the Lord. When he would walk down the street, he'd find himself mumbling the praises of God. And people would say, Billy, you're crazy.

36:54 What in the world are you doing? He said, I can't help it. When I walk, and I put my left foot forward, it says, Glory. When I put my right foot forward, it says, Hallelujah.

37:03 And I no sooner do that than I put my left foot forward, and it says, Glory. And my right foot says, Hallelujah. Full of joy. Full of joy.

37:11 And he was in the room. The day his wife went to be with Christ. And while others were turning, about to try to minister consolation in somber tones, Billy Bray began to dance and began to say, She's done with the doubters! She's gone up with the shouters!

37:35 Now, was Billy a little titched? No. Billy had good theology. And he believed it.

37:43 He believed that she was asleep in Jesus. I say to you, my friend, face the fact that there is but one true preparation for death. And that preparation is to come into living, vital union with Jesus Christ, who is Himself, the resurrection and the life, and who said, believing in Him, you'll never die. That is, you'll never be given over to death as the wages of sin.

38:12 You'll never be given over to death as eternal separation. You'll never be given over to death as eternal separation from God. And your physical death, my wife and I like to describe it this way, is God's rough door by which to release the spirit into the presence of Jesus. That's how we talk about death.

38:37 And we say, dear, we're coming to that time in life when the mathematical chances that one of us will discover that we have a cancer, have a vital organ failing, and we say, we're not morbid about it, but we're trying to prepare ourselves realistically, we say, I wonder what rough door God will construct to usher me into His presence. You see, that's what death is for the believer, just a rough door to enter into the presence of Jesus. But my friend, if you're not in Christ, united to Him, because you've been divorced from your sin and your self-righteousness and your self-justification, and your pride, and your self-will, nobody gets married to Jesus who doesn't get divorced from all those harlots. Your sin has married you to a harem of harlots. That's justification. That's your harem of harlots.

39:41 And you'll never get married to Christ until you divorce every last one of them. You can't come to Christ carrying one of them on your arm. And listen, pride and self-righteousness will damn you as much as a lecherous life of blasphemy. Have you divorced all the harlots of your sin and your pride and said, Lord Jesus, I take you to be my heavenly bridegroom, to wash me in your blood, to give me of your spirit, to give me a heart to love you and serve you and in this life to honor you and then to be with you forever.

40:21 If God's saying anything to us through this providence, I believe He's putting the spotlight on this truth that there is but one true preparation for death. And that preparation is a vital saving union with Christ. It is in the virtue of what He did in dying and rising that death is conquered and we enter into that virtue when we enter into union with Him and we enter into union with Him in no other way but repentance and faith. Can I make it any plainer?

40:55 Can I make it any plainer, dear people? You're not married to Christ because mom and dad are. Because you had some water on your head or got plunged under it fifty times. You don't get married to Christ by the good wishes of others and you don't get tied to Him by the coat strings of your own virtue.

Truth 4: Beware of Grieving the Holy Spirit

41:14 You get married to Christ one way, divorce all the harlots of your sin and choose Christ alone as your life, your Lord and your salvation. And then I want to make a final point and it's this. As I reflected upon this providence that took what we anticipated would be a period of intense, concentrated celebration and joy and it gathered momentum from Saturday through last night and some of us expected would come to a glorious culmination as the simple gospel would be preached in that context of joy and ebullition. And I said, Lord, why? Why have you crowned these days with this awful coming together of this double dark problem? And I believe among other things God is putting the spotlight on this truth.

42:17 It is this truth. Beware if as a member of Trinity Church I am allowing anything to grieve the Holy Spirit who alone can so bless the ministry of this word that sinners will be brought into preparation for death and the life to come. Can you see now how horrible it would be as we've prayed, Lord, make this building a birthing room where many will say I was born there and I was born there. Under the preaching of the gospel I saw my sins and miseries.

43:01 I saw the glory of Jesus. I willingly divorced my harlots and gave myself to Christ. Can you see how horrible it would be so to grieve and quench the Spirit that He would not be present to shine not with ten watts or twenty watts but with thousands of watts upon the face of Jesus in the act of preaching. And my heart has been broken.

43:34 My only grief amidst these days has been the fresh and validated information that in spite of all God did to purify us last summer and all He's done to bring us here there are still some of you infected with the leaven of disaffection. I tell you there have been several times in the past week when I've wanted to just run and hide. When the grief was such that I couldn't even weep. To think that some amongst us seeing all the mighty works of God would have hearts so small and so selfish as to be nursing either a legitimate or worse yet no wound at all but one imagined in the horrible murky depths of their own corrupt heart. My dear friend listen those of us committed to this ministry believe that heaven and hell pivot on every facet of our church life and we will not tolerate God helping us anything that grieves the Holy Ghost

44:58 and will impede sinners coming to Christ. And we care not what opinion you have of us if you cannot be convinced that we are your true shepherds who love you who seek not yours but you and if you cannot take us into your hearts and love us for Christ's sake and come with an expectant heart and a joyful heart then in the name of God go somewhere where you can but don't stay here and grieve the Holy Ghost. Where you can be happy where you can love your leaders go where you can love the climate of the church and if you cannot love a church that is guarded in all of its life structured in all of its existence to the best of our knowledge by the word of God if that irritates you and chases you go somewhere else. I plead with you don't stay here and grieve the Holy Ghost. This building is no source of pride to those of us who had some part in it left to ourselves I'm not saying it couldn't be but I'm saying it is not rather

46:26 it is the occasion of humbling us with the awful stewardship oh God oh God what is all of this if when men come within the walls you're not here if when those of us who preach speak of sin and Christ and heaven and hell unseen realities but realities the only ones that count ultimately Lord what will it be if those realities are thundered and they echo off the decking and off the beautiful walls and are absorbed by the beautiful carpets and we work up a sweat and our sweat stains the pulpit Lord what is all of this for if you don't take those unseen realities and make them so real to men and women and boys and girls that they feel their sin see the awesomeness of God and the glory of Jesus and the beauty of a life of holiness and join the ranks of Emmanuel's band my friend if he isn't present to do that I won't long remain behind this place I'll at least go work for Jerry when at the end of the day I can see a wall that I helped lay I will not spend my life for naught I have a stewardship of this life and I'm determined it should be spent to see the name of Jesus extolled in the conversion of sinners

47:54 and in the multiplication of the usefulness of this church to the ends of the earth and if you have any complaint that isn't rooted in this book and you aren't prepared to come and demonstrate from this book that we are unscriptured and you cannot find grace to swallow your own niggling self-centered opinions then in the name of God leave before God strikes you with judgment for that prayer is going to be much more upon our lips in days to come the stakes are higher Lord you ferret out those who would breathe your spirit starting with the preacher kill him if he impedes what you desire to do you say you're being overly dramatic there are men in this building who could rise up if they've heard me pray that prayer that's not drama that's reality could it be that God has cast this dark veil to say a word to some of us some who've not been able to enter into all this joy I've sat on that platform and I've scrutinized this congregation now some of you may have had a bellyache I don't judge you some of you women may have been the wrong time of the month I don't mean to be cheeky I don't judge you some of you men it may be that you had a splitting headache I am not judging any individual

49:23 but I suspect that on the faces of some of you that have not blended in with the light of holy joy that has gleamed off the countenance of others frankly I'd have been scared to death to light a match near some of you for fear you just might ignite there's been such a holy glow upon your faces that others of you look like your face was buried in dark molasses what's wrong with you why haven't you been able to enter into what God's been doing it's because you've got a narrow constricted spirit that's grieving the Holy Ghost and you know what your attitude is it's like the Pharisees they saw the multitudes running after Jesus with joy and rather than say hey they see things I don't see what's wrong with me you know what they said this multitude that knoweth not the law if they knew what we knew they'd be right where we are long puss sour puss and that's I have reason to believe that's exactly what some of you are thinking all these mindless people yeah they follow all this enthusiastic whipped up preaching and Pastor Martin's thundering and Pastor Nichols thundering and Pastor Blaise and they're sucked in by Pastor Fisher's sweetness I know better oh the hellish pride of your heart am I talking to anyone here tonight am I has God found you my friend he doesn't find you to drive you away he finds you to draw you hear his voice

Conclusion: A Call to Respond to God's Providence

50:51 hear his voice now I trust God will highlight many other scriptural truths in the days ahead as a result of this dark providence but I am personally confident for this creature in the hours of this day as I sat and in a half an hour had to put onto paper what truths did I see highlighted as I've lived through these hours with all their shattering and staggering grief and shocking reality I say at least these four truths you and I must face realistically the uncertainty of our lives and the inevitability of our death we must face the fact that the greatest folly in life is to be unprepared for death we must face the fact that there is no true and valid preparation for death but in union with Christ and we must face the horrible reality that if we are grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit all that God purposes to do from the human side in great measure be restrained because of the horribleness of our self-centeredness our independent crass prideful independence oh dear people we minister against the backdrop

52:19 of death and one thing I have confidence of and I'll close with this Pastor Blaise and I were talking driving home last night and I said to him my brother I don't care if here in life or in the day of judgment anyone points a finger at me and says you preached too loud when you were down on earth you preached too intensely when you were down there on earth you preached as though at times you looked angry when you were there on earth I care not if I'm accused of that now or in the day of judgment but one thing I want no one to accuse me of here or there and it's this you preached as one who obviously doesn't believe what you said that's the only accusation I fear that man preaches as one who obviously doesn't believe the things he preaches and if he doesn't believe them why should I you will never hurl that accusation at me not a one of you not a one of you precious children will ever deny that I love you I hold you every Sunday I rub your head I kiss you I make fun of you when you lose your teeth and I ask you to say Mississippi

53:46 and you can't and we laugh together and you know your pastor loves you you'll never be able to say you weren't loved every one of you people gets my undivided attention when you come to that door you see me rude to people who want little mini counseling sessions I continue to hold their hand while I turn and look to you and greet you do you think that's all some kind of professional smooth slick sales operation no it's the love of my heart that goes out to your face and to your hand and you'll never be able to say I preached but you really couldn't believe what was preached because I didn't believe it whatever your accusation may be you cannot say I preached as a man who didn't believe what I said every word preached by grace I would seal it with my blood my friend God has drawn near with a strange providence what are you going to do are you going to look at those truths to which the arrow of providence is pointed upon which the spotlights of providence has shined so brightly are you going to put your hand over your eyes and go on in your sin

55:15 or will you say oh God thank you though I know it was painful for the church to go from almost giddy heights of joy of a botchum like grief oh God thank you thank you thank you for taking Anne in that strange way thank you for taking even that little one year old oh God thank you thank you because it was that that brought me up short to see that I must die I'm a fool if I'm not prepared to die and if I'm not in union with Christ I'm not ready to die and I'm determined to be right with him and if you who are believers can say oh what a dark providence how horrible that my heart should be so hard that the only thing would get through to me in all of my self centered complaining and grousing and disaffection was that dark providence oh God I'm ashamed that you had to speak by such awful tones but thank you Lord that you spoke oh may the coming day reveal that God's arrow and God's spotlight were not constructed in vain

56:32 let us pray Holy Father we again bow before your mysterious providence we put our hands as it were upon our mouths and force back every question that would suggest that you are in any way accountable to us of you through you unto you are all things to whom be the glory forever and ever Amen oh our Father we pray that the weeks and months to come and above all the great day of unveiling will make it plain that this providence that became an arrow and a spotlight to these fundamental truths shall be a providence in vain upon us oh God we do not want to preach in vain we do not want to let this providence pass in vain oh have mercy upon saint and sinner alike and may we yet see the fruit of not the providence in itself

58:00 which has no power to save but the truth to which it pointed which has become the power of God unto salvation hear our prayer and may the blessings and benedictions of your grace rest upon us may it rest upon those who grieve may it rest upon our congregation as we share their grief for Jesus sake Amen