Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. John 14:1
Trouble and its cordial
I. GOD'S MOST FAITHFUL SERVANTS ARE SUBJECT TO TROUBLES OF HEART.
1. What troubles?
(1) Inward, arising from
(a) Sin (Psa 51:4-8).
(b) Corruption (Rom 7:24).
(2) Outward, which are
(a) Spiritual: Christ's absence.
(b) Temporal: outward afflictions (Lam 1:4).
2. The reason.
(1) Weakness of faith.
(2) Imperfection of other graces.
II. FAITH IN GOD AND CHRIST IS THE BEST CORDIAL TO A TROUBLED HEART.
1. It is the surest and most infallible (Mat 11:28).
2. The strongest (Isa 59:1).
3. The pleasantest (1Pe 1:8).
4. The readiest (Psa 46:1).
5. The most suitable (Isa 43:2-3).
6. The most constant (Heb 13:5).
7. The most universal.
III. APPLY THIS to
1. Temporal troubles. Art thou troubled with
(1) Poverty?
(a) Faith is the best riches (Jas 2:5).
(b) It will turn thy very poverty into a blessing (Rom 8:28).
(2) Disgrace?
(a) By faith thou mayest see the emptiness of honor (Psa 42:11).
(b) Faith will procure thee honor (Heb 1:14; 1Sa 2:30).
(3) Sickness and pains.? By faith
(a) Thou mayest see God's love in them (Heb 12:6).
(b) Thou mayest get good by them (Psa 119:71).
(c) Thou mayest receive more comfort in them than in health.
(4) Losses and crosses?
(a) Faith will show thee from whence they came (Job 1:21).
(b) Why (Heb 12:10).
(c) And so turn them to thy gain (2Co 4:17).
(5) Fears of death? Faith will show thee
(a) That the sting is out (1Co 15:55).
(b) That death is but the entrance of life.
(c) And so turn thy fears into hopes (Php 1:23).
2. In spiritual troubles. Art thou troubled
(1) For thy sins?
(a) God is merciful (Psa 103:8; Isa 43:25).
(b) Christ is all-sufficient (1Jn 2:1).
(2) With thy lusts?
(a) God is almighty.
(b) Christ will send His Spirit (chap. 16:7).
(c) Faith conquers them (1Jn 5:4).
(3) With desertions? If thou believest
(a) God will never forsake thee wholly (Joh 13:1; Heb 13:5).
(b) Christ will pray that thy faith fail not (Luk 22:31-32).
(Bp. Beveridge.)
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