1 00:00:00,000 –> 00:00:07,100 You’re listening to a sermon from Pastor Colin Smith of Open The Bible. 2 00:00:07,100 –> 00:00:11,800 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 3 00:00:11,800 –> 00:00:16,340 or visit our website www.OpenTheBible.org 4 00:00:16,340 –> 00:00:17,420 Let’s get to the message. 5 00:00:17,420 –> 00:00:18,780 Here is Pastor Colin. 6 00:00:18,780 –> 00:00:25,700 I invite you to have your Bibles open at Psalm 130 as we take another journey into the secret 7 00:00:25,700 –> 00:00:27,600 life of the soul. 8 00:00:28,120 –> 00:00:35,080 Our aim on these Sunday mornings is to discover what is happening in your inner life. 9 00:00:35,080 –> 00:00:40,599 And we have used the picture of the soul, your inner life as being like a board room 10 00:00:40,599 –> 00:00:45,700 where six duly appointed members of the board meet to discuss the great issues of your life, 11 00:00:45,700 –> 00:00:50,779 their names are mind, and heart, and will, and conscience, memory, and imagination, and 12 00:00:50,779 –> 00:00:55,799 the outcome of their discussions will determine your future direction. 13 00:00:55,799 –> 00:01:01,779 We’ve seen that when a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God, the Holy 14 00:01:01,779 –> 00:01:08,180 Spirit himself, actually comes to the soul, taking up, as it were, the vacant chair around 15 00:01:08,180 –> 00:01:14,419 the board table, and when he comes, he takes charge, and he gives new direction to all 16 00:01:14,419 –> 00:01:18,660 of the members of the board. 17 00:01:18,660 –> 00:01:25,760 Now this morning we’re going to tread carefully, because we’re going to explore some of the 18 00:01:25,760 –> 00:01:33,720 deepest struggles that are ever encountered by a human soul. 19 00:01:33,720 –> 00:01:40,760 There are times when the soul experiences an indescribable inner pain. 20 00:01:40,760 –> 00:01:48,040 When the soul itself, as opposed to the body, may be overwhelmed with sorrow. 21 00:01:48,040 –> 00:01:52,860 Some writers have called this the dark night of the soul. 22 00:01:52,860 –> 00:01:55,400 It’s a helpful phrase. 23 00:01:56,059 –> 00:02:00,300 Now there is no book of the Bible that gives us a deeper insight into the 24 00:02:00,300 –> 00:02:06,220 struggles of the soul than the book of Psalms. Calvin once described the book of 25 00:02:06,220 –> 00:02:13,500 Psalms as being like an anatomy, he said, of the soul. And what he meant by that is 26 00:02:13,500 –> 00:02:18,419 that every experience that can be known in the inner life, the mind, the heart, the 27 00:02:18,419 –> 00:02:24,259 will of a person, is somehow reflected here in this book of Psalms. It’s all 28 00:02:24,380 –> 00:02:29,440 there for us in the Word of God. One of the greatest comforts you can know when 29 00:02:29,440 –> 00:02:35,000 you go through pain is of course to find someone else who’s been there. When you 30 00:02:35,000 –> 00:02:39,880 find someone who has walked your path, there is a connection that happens at a 31 00:02:39,880 –> 00:02:45,759 very, very deep level. Now when you open the book of Psalms you will discover 32 00:02:45,759 –> 00:02:53,300 real-life companions who have walked the path of pain before. They have struggled 33 00:02:53,500 –> 00:02:58,580 with the depth of their own pain and they have brought it into the presence 34 00:02:58,580 –> 00:03:05,820 of God. Let me give you just a sample of their experience leading up to this 35 00:03:05,820 –> 00:03:11,100 beautiful Psalm that’s been read for us. For example, in Psalm chapter 6 and 36 00:03:11,100 –> 00:03:20,100 verse 3. The Psalmist there writes, my soul is in anguish. How long oh Lord! How 37 00:03:20,139 –> 00:03:26,860 long, you ever been there? Anguish, how long’s this gonna take till it changes? 38 00:03:26,860 –> 00:03:35,259 Psalm 77 verse 2, my soul says the psalmist refused to be comforted. You 39 00:03:35,259 –> 00:03:39,699 ever been there? Someone’s tried to reach out to you and offer you some kind of 40 00:03:39,699 –> 00:03:44,059 comfort but the pain was so great you didn’t even want it. My soul couldn’t 41 00:03:44,240 –> 00:03:53,339 accept comfort at this point, the pain was so great. Psalm 119 verse 28, my soul 42 00:03:53,339 –> 00:04:01,320 is weary with sorrow. Ever been there? I’ve gone through sorrow and the sorrow has 43 00:04:01,320 –> 00:04:06,779 continued. I’ve just come to a point where I’m tired of being this sick in my 44 00:04:06,820 –> 00:04:18,019 soul. In Psalm 130, out of the depths I cry to you O Lord. Now sooner or later 45 00:04:18,019 –> 00:04:23,899 there will come circumstances of life in which you will face this dark night of 46 00:04:23,899 –> 00:04:29,720 the soul. Your soul will be filled with pain even though your body may be 47 00:04:29,720 –> 00:04:36,119 healthy. The inner resources of your life will seem to be dissipated, drained away 48 00:04:36,799 –> 00:04:47,480 you will look for God and you will not find him. Now some of you will be there 49 00:04:47,480 –> 00:04:54,040 right now, some of you may remember such a time when it seemed incredibly dark 50 00:04:54,040 –> 00:05:01,579 around your soul. For a few of us such a time may still lie ahead, but that time 51 00:05:01,579 –> 00:05:07,179 will surely come. Now the question this morning before us then is how do we 52 00:05:07,179 –> 00:05:15,179 deal with this dark night of the soul? How are you going to face these greatest 53 00:05:15,179 –> 00:05:22,859 and most painful struggles that can come to the inner life of a Christian person? 54 00:05:22,980 –> 00:05:32,160 Now I want to say three things from Psalm 130 today. The first is simply this— 55 00:05:32,160 –> 00:05:35,679 when you face the dark night of the soul, 56 00:05:35,679 –> 00:05:46,679 do not deny the darkness. Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Now the 57 00:05:46,679 –> 00:05:52,200 wonderful thing about these psalms is that those who were going through the 58 00:05:52,260 –> 00:05:56,700 depths of these experiences faced the pain. There was a sense in which they 59 00:05:56,700 –> 00:06:02,519 almost embraced the pain, though it was so hurtful to them. But they brought that 60 00:06:02,519 –> 00:06:08,339 pain into the presence of God, and their very pain—because they acknowledged it— 61 00:06:08,339 –> 00:06:14,420 became the driving force of the most authentic prayer that is recorded for us 62 00:06:14,420 –> 00:06:20,660 here. Now I want to tell you a story this morning, I’ve hesitated to do so because 63 00:06:20,779 –> 00:06:27,220 it still goes deep in my own heart, but I shared it because I believe that it will 64 00:06:27,220 –> 00:06:35,459 be helpful to some, and perhaps a number. Some years ago now, we spent a delightful 65 00:06:35,459 –> 00:06:42,679 day at a family wedding in England. It was a great day, and in the evening we 66 00:06:42,679 –> 00:06:48,959 had a full house with family staying the night in our home. My sister-in-law’s 67 00:06:49,079 –> 00:06:53,720 boyfriend, who was a college freshman, also came and was staying the weekend 68 00:06:53,720 –> 00:07:00,279 along with other members of the family. On Sunday morning, I was up early, getting 69 00:07:00,279 –> 00:07:04,420 ready for a day’s preaching and was surprised to find that he was not in the 70 00:07:04,420 –> 00:07:09,459 house. We searched for him early Sunday morning everywhere we could imagine, but 71 00:07:09,459 –> 00:07:15,720 to no avail. I went to the church, led the two services, preached and returned home. 72 00:07:15,720 –> 00:07:21,399 And at lunchtime, a policeman arrived to tell me that they had found him, and that 73 00:07:21,399 –> 00:07:28,359 he had taken his own life. Plunged me into one of the greatest periods of 74 00:07:28,359 –> 00:07:34,700 questioning that I have ever known. How could this happen while he was staying 75 00:07:34,700 –> 00:07:44,839 in my home? What could I have done? Fell to me to tell the boy’s father and to 76 00:07:44,959 –> 00:07:52,320 walk with him through all the trauma that has to be faced at such a time. A 77 00:07:52,320 –> 00:07:58,279 few days later we travelled to the boy’s hometown for the funeral service, so 78 00:07:58,279 –> 00:08:05,619 distraught. When we arrived, we were told that the service was to 79 00:08:05,619 –> 00:08:13,100 be one of celebration. Afterwards a mature Christian leader came up to me 80 00:08:13,119 –> 00:08:17,959 and I can never forget the way in which he said isn’t it wonderful he’s in 81 00:08:17,959 –> 00:08:29,899 Heaven and I found my whole soul crying out doesn’t anybody recognize the 82 00:08:29,899 –> 00:08:40,159 darkness. Here were evangelical Christians, Bible people, whose response 83 00:08:40,239 –> 00:08:48,000 to tragedy seemed to be to pretend that it wasn’t there, to dress up tragedy in 84 00:08:48,000 –> 00:09:00,140 the language of spiritual victory. It wasn’t faith, it was denial. Let me use 85 00:09:00,140 –> 00:09:06,919 our analogy of the boardroom to tell you what was going on in my soul. The members 86 00:09:06,919 –> 00:09:12,400 come together and take their seats stunned by the tragedy of what has 87 00:09:12,400 –> 00:09:19,919 afflicted them all. Mind is reeling. Heart is broken. Will is drained. Conscience 88 00:09:19,919 –> 00:09:28,419 says what could I have done? Memory feels sick. Imagination is dumbfounded because 89 00:09:28,419 –> 00:09:34,059 it is worse than anything he had ever anticipated and as they gather, the 90 00:09:34,140 –> 00:09:40,400 atmosphere is heavy within the boardroom. Will says, Mind I don’t feel like leading 91 00:09:40,400 –> 00:09:44,140 a meeting. The members of the board sits, staring at the table in front of them. 92 00:09:44,140 –> 00:09:49,059 There is an eerie silence. The whole soul is numbed by what has happened. Nobody 93 00:09:49,059 –> 00:09:56,919 knows what to say. The soul waits to receive some direction, some word, some 94 00:09:56,919 –> 00:10:05,479 comfort. Then a memo is brought into the boardroom of the soul. Isn’t it 95 00:10:05,479 –> 00:10:14,359 wonderful? He’s in heaven. There’s no way I can relate to that, says Mind. He should 96 00:10:14,359 –> 00:10:20,080 be alive and at college. It’s about the most insensitive thing I’ve ever heard, 97 00:10:20,200 –> 00:10:27,479 says Heart. Doesn’t help me one bit, says Conscience! Well, says Imagination. It’s 98 00:10:27,479 –> 00:10:31,880 quite clear that whoever wrote this memo doesn’t have much of a clue about what 99 00:10:31,880 –> 00:10:36,880 we’re facing. Yes, says Memory, I’ll make a note never to listen to anything from 100 00:10:36,880 –> 00:10:44,179 that source again. Now, you see what happens here is that there is a 101 00:10:44,179 –> 00:10:52,219 fundamental disconnect between the reality of the soul and the words that 102 00:10:52,219 –> 00:11:01,780 are being spoken out there. And when that disconnect takes place, there is the 103 00:11:01,780 –> 00:11:09,539 beginning of a great, great, great struggle. And some of you have been there. I do not 104 00:11:09,599 –> 00:11:18,260 question for a moment that he was in heaven, but question is the inability to 105 00:11:18,260 –> 00:11:31,739 perceive the darkness. And let me take the opportunity, because it causes pain 106 00:11:31,900 –> 00:11:35,260 to those who suffer time and again, in my experience. 107 00:11:37,979 –> 00:11:41,820 Be very careful about what you say to those who are walking through great 108 00:11:41,820 –> 00:11:48,940 darkness. Too often, well-meaning believers add to the pain of those who 109 00:11:48,940 –> 00:11:53,539 suffer by their shallow exhortations, you should be doing this, 110 00:11:53,539 –> 00:11:57,539 you should be feeling that by now, you need to try the other. 111 00:12:01,119 –> 00:12:05,500 Let me give you this assurance, God will never treat you like that. 112 00:12:07,820 –> 00:12:13,460 Open your Bible and you will discover men and women of faith who walked 113 00:12:13,460 –> 00:12:18,320 through the dark night of the soul, and they did not hide the pain under 114 00:12:18,320 –> 00:12:25,880 a pile of spiritual phrases. They faced the pain in all of its horror and they 115 00:12:25,880 –> 00:12:33,159 brought it as it is into the presence of God. That connects the soul to God, 116 00:12:33,159 –> 00:12:43,520 even the soul in agony to God. Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. 117 00:12:43,559 –> 00:12:49,039 This is prayer ascending from a soul in turmoil. It is 118 00:12:49,039 –> 00:12:58,140 authentic. It is real. I asked a lady who was bereaved not so long ago how she was 119 00:12:58,140 –> 00:13:09,880 doing. And she said, it just hurts so much. And the way she said it, I sensed that 120 00:13:10,039 –> 00:13:16,299 she thought that was a failure of faith. I actually thought it was refreshingly 121 00:13:16,299 –> 00:13:26,659 honest. See, if you deny the pain you can’t bring it to God. And you then shut 122 00:13:26,659 –> 00:13:33,739 off one of the greatest opportunities to discover his grace. Where did we get the 123 00:13:33,739 –> 00:13:38,440 idea that pain isn’t quite so painful if you are a Christian? If I hit my thumb 124 00:13:38,440 –> 00:13:43,380 with a hammer, it hurts as much as it hurts the unbeliever. Did you know that? 125 00:13:43,380 –> 00:13:50,580 And when a Christian soul is in the, if you didn’t know that, try it by the way, 126 00:13:50,580 –> 00:13:57,559 when a Christian soul is in the depth of sorrow, the pain can seem overwhelming to 127 00:13:57,559 –> 00:14:04,559 the Christian soul. And it is no part of Christian faith to deny that. We distance 128 00:14:05,099 –> 00:14:12,099 ourselves if we do from Jesus who said in the garden, My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, 129 00:14:12,179 –> 00:14:19,179 He said. Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord. 130 00:14:22,000 –> 00:14:29,000 What do you do when you cry out to God from the depths, when you find yourself in that 131 00:14:29,979 –> 00:14:36,979 dark night of the soul? What are you to do? You know what the psalmist says to us here 132 00:14:38,940 –> 00:14:45,940 in verse 5? One word. Wait. Wait. I wait for the Lord. He says my soul waits. This is marvelous, 133 00:14:45,940 –> 00:14:58,979 this is new ground. No smart answers, no trite phrases, no patronizing advice, no exhortations 134 00:14:58,979 –> 00:15:09,340 to pull yourself together, just a simple decision and a steady commitment to wait. That wasn’t 135 00:15:09,340 –> 00:15:12,940 in the Bible, I would never have written that, you would never have thought of that. You 136 00:15:12,940 –> 00:15:28,500 wouldn’t? Wait! In our instant culture where we want an answer to everything within the 137 00:15:28,500 –> 00:15:33,099 moment, this is one of the hardest things for us to do, it is also one, of course, of 138 00:15:33,099 –> 00:15:42,539 the most important disciplines for us to learn. The psalmist knew that when you are in deep 139 00:15:42,559 –> 00:15:53,179 answers, this man prays, out of the depths I call to you O Lord. He continues he says 140 00:15:53,179 –> 00:15:59,880 to fill his mind with the word of God, he lifts his pain to God, he fill his mind with 141 00:15:59,880 –> 00:16:08,880 the word of God and beyond that he waits. And he refuses to pretend that all is well 142 00:16:08,880 –> 00:16:15,880 before a solution has come, here I am in the depths, my inner being is in pain. I will 143 00:16:16,219 –> 00:16:20,739 not deny the pain, I will not pretend with slick phrases that all is well, here is what 144 00:16:20,739 –> 00:16:27,739 I will do, I will wait for the Lord. Now think about it, waiting is one of the most 145 00:16:30,359 –> 00:16:37,359 beautiful and profound expressions of love. You ever been in hospital with someone who 146 00:16:39,080 –> 00:16:42,159 is in hospital for an operation and when you came round there was someone sitting by the 147 00:16:42,159 –> 00:16:49,159 bed just waiting, beautiful expression of love. When we made our move to this country 148 00:16:54,280 –> 00:17:01,280 6 years ago arriving at Oh-here we had to go through the immigration procedure, which 149 00:17:02,000 –> 00:17:08,140 seemed to take forever it actually took about 2 hours after the plane landed. Then finally 150 00:17:08,260 –> 00:17:12,079 after going through all of this fingerprinting process and all of the rest of it we were 151 00:17:12,079 –> 00:17:17,939 able to collect our luggage and come to the hall and I will never forget seeing more than 152 00:17:17,939 –> 00:17:24,780 a dozen people form this congregation with banners smiling and cheering I remember the 153 00:17:24,780 –> 00:17:31,780 faces still. They’ve been waiting. It’s a wonderful expression of love. 154 00:17:34,420 –> 00:17:37,420 Actually it occurs to me, there were probably another dozen who gave up an hour previously 155 00:17:37,459 –> 00:17:44,459 and went home, and now if you did don’t feel bad about that, I don’t blame you at all. 156 00:17:45,479 –> 00:17:50,739 But waiting, we couldn’t believe it, we’d been so long. It’s a beautiful expression 157 00:17:50,739 –> 00:17:57,739 of love. Now the length of time you’re prepared to wait is really an expression of the value 158 00:18:00,160 –> 00:18:06,040 that you place on the person you’re waiting for. I had to get permission to tell you this 159 00:18:06,160 –> 00:18:13,160 today, but I waited two years for the lady who’s now my wife. She grabbed my heart the 160 00:18:14,680 –> 00:18:21,680 first moment I saw her. The problem was she had the same effect on several others. And 161 00:18:22,180 –> 00:18:29,180 I was way, way too slow. So, I had to wait, and hope. But the waiting was an expression 162 00:18:29,939 –> 00:18:36,939 of love. David says, I will wait for the Lord. Here’s the question, how long would you wait 163 00:18:43,099 –> 00:18:50,099 for God? The length of the waiting is the greatest expression of the value you place 164 00:18:51,819 –> 00:18:58,819 on the one you are waiting for. This is worship when David says this and this is worship when 165 00:18:59,979 –> 00:19:06,319 there isn’t a greater expression of love in all the world. God your face seems hidden 166 00:19:06,319 –> 00:19:12,319 from me. I find myself in the darkness. I don’t know what you’re doing but I will 167 00:19:12,319 –> 00:19:19,319 wait for you. And then notice what he says because it’s not only waiting. His waiting 168 00:19:21,380 –> 00:19:28,380 is sustained by hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for morning. 169 00:19:29,300 –> 00:19:35,500 Now picture that miserable old night watchman and he’s parading round the area that he’s 170 00:19:35,500 –> 00:19:40,800 securing and it’s a long long night and it’s cold. And he’s looking at his watch and he 171 00:19:40,800 –> 00:19:45,420 oh dear, when’s the dawn going to come. The one thing sustains him is that how ever dark 172 00:19:45,420 –> 00:19:52,420 and long this night is, the dawn will surely come and he knows it. And that’s how I look 173 00:19:53,420 –> 00:19:59,859 for God, he says, that’s how I wait for the Lord. Not with some sense of despair, some 174 00:19:59,859 –> 00:20:06,859 sense of hopelessness, but with the deep conviction of mind and heart that at some point God will 175 00:20:08,760 –> 00:20:15,760 come through for me. And when he does I will be right here, waiting for him. 176 00:20:23,020 –> 00:20:30,020 Don’t deny the pain. Wait for the Lord. 177 00:20:32,020 –> 00:20:36,180 And here’s the third and last thing this morning. 178 00:20:36,180 –> 00:20:43,180 You will not be disappointed. You will not be disappointed. 179 00:20:45,680 –> 00:20:50,560 About a year after we were married I decided to take Karin for a day at the cricket in 180 00:20:51,260 –> 00:20:56,000 Oxford. Now, itís a wonderful game and I promise you that there is nothing more glorious 181 00:20:56,000 –> 00:21:03,000 than an English summer’s day watching the cricket with your lunch packed and spread 182 00:21:03,000 –> 00:21:08,579 out before you, it is just a little taste of heaven itself I promise you. 183 00:21:08,579 –> 00:21:14,380 Well, we had planned a day to see England against the West Indies in Birmingham which 184 00:21:14,380 –> 00:21:18,699 is about one hundred miles from our home in London. Cricket begins at eleven in the morning 185 00:21:18,699 –> 00:21:25,380 and continues until six in the evening. You get good value for your ticket. And we travelled 186 00:21:25,380 –> 00:21:31,699 to Birmingham and as we arrived we noticed that the clouds were gathering. And sure enough 187 00:21:31,699 –> 00:21:37,260 just before eleven the heavens opened and we were rushing for cover from the rain. But 188 00:21:37,260 –> 00:21:44,260 of course they said it would only be a shower. In England you should take that kind of statement 189 00:21:45,099 –> 00:21:51,540 with a pinch of salt. Well, we watched the waterhogs soak up water from the grass for 190 00:21:51,540 –> 00:21:58,260 four hours and then the skies began to clear and sure enough we were wonderfully rewarded 191 00:21:58,260 –> 00:22:05,260 because at 4 o’clock the game began and continued for 25 minutes until the rain came again and 192 00:22:05,699 –> 00:22:12,699 play was abandoned for the day. The end as we left, Karen said to me, it wasn’t worth 193 00:22:14,479 –> 00:22:19,239 it. It was difficult to find an answer. 194 00:22:19,239 –> 00:22:26,239 We should have scrapped the tickets and gone and done something else. We should try to 195 00:22:26,780 –> 00:22:33,780 find. We should have scrapped the tickets and gone and done something else. 196 00:22:35,380 –> 00:22:38,400 Now here’s the bottom line question. We really got to face it if we’re going to be honest 197 00:22:38,400 –> 00:22:45,400 here. Is it worth waiting on God when you’re in the depth of sorrow? What will come out 198 00:22:45,880 –> 00:22:52,439 of waiting from God? For there is a temptation that comes to the human soul as it were to 199 00:22:52,439 –> 00:22:59,439 tear up our tickets, cut our losses, and get on with something else. Is all this as I go 200 00:23:02,119 –> 00:23:09,119 through the darkness so that God may salvage some little scrape, and not even try to do 201 00:23:09,959 –> 00:23:16,119 salvation? As I go through the darkness so that God may salvage some little scrap of 202 00:23:16,119 –> 00:23:23,119 blessing, out of a mountain of pain? Like an uneventful 25 minutes of play on a rain 203 00:23:24,479 –> 00:23:31,479 soaked day? I need to know the answer to that question, if I am to be sustained in my waiting 204 00:23:32,020 –> 00:23:38,479 on God in the darkness? 205 00:23:38,479 –> 00:23:45,479 Look at what he says in verse 7, O Israel put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord 206 00:23:45,479 –> 00:23:52,479 is unfailing love, and with him is full redemption. Literally the word there, full, is plentiful, 207 00:23:53,479 –> 00:24:00,479 plentiful redemption. Abundant redemption. Redemption means simply what God will bring 208 00:24:06,640 –> 00:24:11,319 out of the pain and brokenness that afflict your soul in the darkness. And what God will 209 00:24:11,319 –> 00:24:18,319 bring out of it the psalmist says, will be plentiful. Not just enough. Plentiful. 210 00:24:19,319 –> 00:24:25,160 Plentiful. Peter talks about the same thing in the new testament when he talks about the 211 00:24:25,160 –> 00:24:31,260 grief that you will experience in all kinds of trials he says. And in the furnace of these 212 00:24:31,260 –> 00:24:37,939 trials what will happen is this, your faith will be proved genuine and then when Jesus 213 00:24:37,939 –> 00:24:44,939 Christ is revealed it will rebound to the praise and to the glory and to the honor of 214 00:24:45,180 –> 00:24:50,739 God. See, we see all of our experience wrapped 215 00:24:50,739 –> 00:24:57,739 up in a day, a week a month or a year. We look at such a short time frame that it is 216 00:25:00,420 –> 00:25:05,500 difficult for us to imagine how anything can come out of the darkness that would be greater 217 00:25:05,500 –> 00:25:12,500 than the pain that we have experienced in it. But God is looking at a bigger picture. 218 00:25:13,199 –> 00:25:20,199 Your whole body and soul will be redeemed. You are going to be brought into the presence 219 00:25:22,640 –> 00:25:29,640 of God and made like Him. This whole sorry, fallen creation in which we live our lives 220 00:25:30,520 –> 00:25:35,579 is going to be redeemed and is going to be renewed, and what God will bring out of this 221 00:25:36,060 –> 00:25:43,060 suffering world will be more than we could ever begin to imagine or our minds could comprehend 222 00:25:43,260 –> 00:25:50,260 what God will bring out of your darkness, your suffering, in particular, will be out 223 00:25:50,300 –> 00:25:57,300 of scale so as to diminish what to you now is so overwhelmingly large that is beyond 224 00:25:58,300 –> 00:26:05,300 what, at this point, we can grasp or what we can perceive but this is the promise of 225 00:26:05,540 –> 00:26:12,540 God, when God redeems it will not be enough it will be plentiful. And when you see what 226 00:26:16,439 –> 00:26:23,439 God has redeemed in Heaven, and when you see your part in it, you will simultaneously be 227 00:26:27,819 –> 00:26:34,819 so glad to say, I am so glad I waited for the Lord. 228 00:26:36,000 –> 00:26:40,500 If you want evidence of that then just look at Jesus. 229 00:26:40,500 –> 00:26:47,500 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, He said, in the Garden of Gethsemane and then they 230 00:26:47,500 –> 00:26:54,500 came to arrest Him, and He said, this is your hour, where darkness reigns. You see He didn’t 231 00:26:55,160 –> 00:27:02,160 deny the darkness. Then He moves deeper and deeper into the darkness and the anguish of 232 00:27:02,160 –> 00:27:06,660 His own soul. His friends desert Him, the sin of the world is laid upon Him, darkness 233 00:27:06,660 –> 00:27:13,660 covers the land and then He cannot even feel the presence of His Father. 234 00:27:14,280 –> 00:27:18,040 And if you had been standing there at the foot of Calvary and someone had asked you, 235 00:27:19,040 –> 00:27:26,040 what good can God bring out of this that is greater than the darkness He experiences? 236 00:27:30,439 –> 00:27:37,439 You would have been stuck for an answer. So, what does He do? He waits. He hopes. He trusts. 237 00:27:38,439 –> 00:27:45,439 Father, into your hand I commit my spirit.” They took down his body, and on the third 238 00:27:59,839 –> 00:28:06,839 day the Father raises him up and redemption streams to the whole world. 239 00:28:08,319 –> 00:28:15,319 So, come with me one last time into the boardroom of the soul. The members of the board are 240 00:28:19,079 –> 00:28:25,520 in sombre mood as they reflect on the deep darkness in which they find themselves. But 241 00:28:25,520 –> 00:28:32,520 now the Spirit of God comes right into the boardroom and takes that chair that God has 242 00:28:33,040 –> 00:28:39,520 set in every soul that will receive His presence. 243 00:28:39,520 –> 00:28:46,520 I know the pain of this soul. The Spirit says, Mind, I know all your questions. You believe 244 00:28:49,819 –> 00:28:56,819 God knows all your questions? Heart, I feel all your pain. Conscience, I know all your 245 00:28:57,819 –> 00:29:04,819 burdens. Imagination, I know all your fears. Memory, I know all your regrets. Will, I know 246 00:29:09,579 –> 00:29:16,020 that you feel spent. And I want you to know, says the Spirit of 247 00:29:16,020 –> 00:29:23,020 God, that I have not come as a visitor. I have come to stay so that we may work through 248 00:29:23,979 –> 00:29:30,979 this darkness together. Mind, there’s a great deal that you don’t 249 00:29:32,400 –> 00:29:38,979 know and can’t know, but I want you to focus now on what you do know, so we can help the 250 00:29:38,979 –> 00:29:45,400 other members of the board. Mind straightens himself in his chair and then holds his head 251 00:29:45,400 –> 00:29:52,300 in his hands as he tries to focus. All I know right now is that the light that 252 00:29:53,199 –> 00:30:00,199 we’re in great darkness, says Mind. That’s a good start. The whole soul can agree on 253 00:30:02,339 –> 00:30:09,339 that says the spirit now what else do we know. Can we agree that God is with us? No, we can’t 254 00:30:12,160 –> 00:30:19,160 says Heart, because I can’t feel Him. Yes, but that’s not the issue, says Conscience. 255 00:30:19,439 –> 00:30:26,439 Remember, Heart, you can’t feel anything except the pain. It’s overwhelmed you and 256 00:30:28,339 –> 00:30:35,339 obliterated all else. The question is not, can you feel His presence, the question is 257 00:30:35,819 –> 00:30:42,819 simply is He here? I’m ready to believe He’s here, says Memory. We knew Him here 258 00:30:43,760 –> 00:30:50,760 before. Why should the darkness make us doubt His presence now? Yes, says imagination, like 259 00:30:50,839 –> 00:30:57,839 the sun that’s always there, but sometimes hidden behind a cloud, hidden for our view, 260 00:30:57,859 –> 00:31:04,880 only for a time, but still there as much as before. We’re in the darkness then, but 261 00:31:05,540 –> 00:31:12,040 God is with us. Can we also agree that God will bring us through? When, says heart, 262 00:31:25,500 –> 00:31:32,500 painfully. I don’t know how much longer I can stand this. We’re not talking timescales, 263 00:31:33,459 –> 00:31:40,459 says Will. The question is simply whether we choose to believe that God will bring us 264 00:31:41,339 –> 00:31:48,339 through and the only alternative is to remain in the darkness. No one else can bring us 265 00:31:48,640 –> 00:31:55,640 out. I move, says Will, that we affirm as the position of this soul that we are in the 266 00:31:55,640 –> 00:32:02,640 darkness, that God is with us, and that God will bring us through. Second, says Mind, 267 00:32:12,380 –> 00:32:19,380 with God’s darkness is never the final word. Let’s look to see his full redemption. 268 00:32:19,400 –> 00:32:26,400 Let’s look to see his full redemption. The motion was carried unanimously. 269 00:32:29,479 –> 00:32:36,479 Let’s pray together. Father, you know the precise circumstances 270 00:32:39,959 –> 00:32:46,959 faced by every soul in this congregation right now. 271 00:32:47,640 –> 00:32:54,640 You know that, for some, the darkness is very real and the questions have been very great. 272 00:32:59,300 –> 00:33:06,319 Thank you that, when we come into your presence we don’t have to pretend that the best prayer 273 00:33:06,319 –> 00:33:13,319 comes from pain brought into the presence of God and offered up before you. 274 00:33:17,859 –> 00:33:24,859 Teach us, we pray, what it is to wait on you, to wait and to hope. Grant that our waiting 275 00:33:30,880 –> 00:33:37,880 on you, the living God, may indeed be the expression of a heart that loves you and will 276 00:33:38,160 –> 00:33:45,160 be here as you are there when the felt sense of your comfort breaks through, as the clouds 277 00:33:53,680 –> 00:34:00,680 are moved and the warmth of the sun always there bears in upon us again. 278 00:34:00,760 –> 00:34:07,760 Thank you that with you there is plentiful redemption. That’s beyond what we can begin 279 00:34:12,719 –> 00:34:19,719 to imagine, but we thank you that it is what you have revealed to us and in your promise 280 00:34:23,040 –> 00:34:30,040 through Jesus Christ we put our trust. 281 00:34:31,679 –> 00:34:38,320 Grant therefor that many may be sustained in great darkness and wonderfully find the 282 00:34:38,320 –> 00:34:45,320 help of God in the hardest experiences of life. 283 00:34:46,020 –> 00:34:53,020 For these things we ask, in Jesus name, Amen. 284 00:34:57,139 –> 00:35:00,399 You’ve been listening to a sermon with Pastor Colin Smith of Open the Bible, 285 00:35:00,399 –> 00:35:07,800 To contact us call us at 1-877-OPEN-365 or visit our website openthebible.org