Ministry From Job — William MacDonald

The Consolations of God in a World of Sorrow

We have a very short Bible reading this morning, and it's in the book of Job, chapter 15, and verse 11. Job, chapter 15, and verse 11, it says, "...are the consolations of God too small for you, and the word spoken gently with you?".

That's what I'd like to speak about this morning, "...are the consolations of God too small for you.". We live in a world of sorrow. Nobody will paint with surprise when I say that this morning. We all know it.

All you have to do is read the daily newspaper, and it's sorrow from one page to the other. Heartache, life damage, people of the world know sorrow, and Christians know sorrow, too. Christians are not exempt from sorrow in this world.

There are followers of the one who is known as the Man of Sorrow, and it's crazy to think of that. When God came down to this world that lives, and suffers, and bleeds, and dies, it's known as the Man of Sorrow.

Older people have sorrows, young people have sorrows, and the question is, are the consolations, the comforts of God, enough for us in the sorrows that we have to go through? I think I can honestly say that not a week goes by that my telephone doesn't ring.

There's another case of sorrow. A week ago, I got a call from a young man in Berkeley, and he called me to tell me that his mother, living in Chicago, was nearing the end, and he was rushing back to the U .S. Air Force.

Heartbroken. He's a Christian woman, but never mind, his heart was broken. Last night, just before I went to bed, my telephone rang, and it was the man who translated the New Testament Commentary into Romanian.

I don't think many of you know him, his name is Guru Mokhtar. He called to tell me that his daughter was lying in a hospital bed, she had been stricken, and if you don't know the cause yet, she has graduated from college, she was on a life support system, her mother was constantly there at her bedside.

And the doctor told them that she was brain dead, and that if they removed the resuscitator, she would take two breaths. The doctor, not a Christian, says, I think he's already seen him. Sorrow. This was a girl who was sunshine in the life of that man.

When she came into the room, it was as if a light went on, and now she's snatched away, as it were. Actually, they have to face the difficult question of whether they should stop the resuscitator. Sorrow.

The Missionary Family Attacked in Peru

I'm sure you all heard the story of the missionary family down in Peru. I'd just like to tell it to you. Missionary family, Jim and Ronnie Bowers. They weren't able to have children at first. Ronnie said to a friend of hers, my arm is holding a baby in them.

Well, God answered their prayers, and boy, they were able to adopt a boy. His name is Cory. And then more recently, they adopted a little girl. Her name is Charity. Cory is seven years old, and Charity was seven months old.

In order to get a visa for Charity, the little girl, to stay in Peru, missionary, in Peru, in order to get a visa, they had to fly over into Colombia to the Peruvian consulate in Colombia to get the visa.

So, there was a missionary plane there with pontoons on it that landed in the water, in the river, and the pilot was a man named Kevin Donaldson. They flew there to Colombia and got the visa, and then started back to their home base.

They were living in a houseboat there in Chiquita. On the way back home, they became conscious of the fact that a Peruvian fighter plane was following them, followed them for about 15 minutes. This plane was one of many in Peru that was trying to stop the drug traffic there, and it was being aided by a United States plane not far away, a jet not far away with CIA agents in it.

The CIA aid fighter to make sure, before they fired, that this plane was a drug plane. Colombia, of course, it was missionary, but the message came too late, and that Peruvian fighter opened fire on the missionary.

One bullet went through the back of Ronnie, the mother, and through the, into the baby that was sitting on her lap as they were posing. Other bullets went into the right foot of the pilot, Kevin Donaldson.

Nasty. Shattered. To the goodness of God that Kevin, the pilot, was able to land the plane, I shouldn't say land, but he brought it down into the water of the Amazon River, and they were still firing at them.

They were firing at them after they got in the water. A fire broke out in the cabin of the plane. Jim Bowers was able to extinguish it with a fire extinguisher. They were, they had to get out of the plane.

The plane, by that time, was in blaze, blazing. They had to get out, and he was able to get the bodies of his wife and little girl out and drag them along in the water. And Kevin Donaldson, the pilot, put little Cory on his back, and they started paddling around in the water.

And finally, a motorized canoe came with some Peruvians and was able to take them to the town where they were able to radio for a plane to come. I thought, what would you say to people? Are the consolations of God enough for us in certain chances of life?

Forgiveness and the Peace of Christ

Now, I'm sure some of you heard Jim Bowers being interviewed on TV, and he bore a magnificent testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to share some of it with you at this time. He said, our attitude toward those responsible is one of forgiveness.

He said, isn't that amazing? It's not amazing for Christians. I've been praying for them, and as the pilot of that fighter jet, I've talked to their supervisor about that. He's very interested in knowing about the Lord.

I've called him from here, so everything's going well in that regard. No hard feelings. But keep in mind, that's living above the average. The consolations of Christ weren't too small for him. In spite of his shattering loss, he said, both Cory and I, that's the boys, are experiencing inexplicable peace.

Newsweek magazine said, you had such single-minded faith. And the world looking on. One woman was interviewing Jim Bowers on the TV, and this man is not known as a friend of the Christian faith, but interviewing.

And Jim Bowers, in spite of his loss, spoke wonderfully about the fact that his wife was present with the Lord, at home with the Lord. And he said, this is the hope of the Christians, that our salvation with Christ may be in Christ.

Fourteen Miracles in the Tragedy

At a memorial service for his wife and his little girl, he listed 14 miracles that he had seen in the whole incident. Now, that's one of them. Instead of engaging in blame against the Peruvians, instead of talking about million-dollar lawsuits there was no mention of that.

He listed 14 miracles that he had seen. In other words, through his tears he saw God, and I like to share those miracles with you. He said, of the fusillade of bullets that penetrated the cabin, not one of them hit him or the little boy in spite of the fact that a bullet came from behind him and shattered the windshield in front of him.

Wonderful, isn't it? I know his wife has spoken, but God had a work for him to do, and hopefully for his boy to do, and a bullet came from behind him and shattered the windshield in front of him, but didn't hit either one.

The second miracle, he said, when he used the extinguisher, the private extinguisher to extinguish the fire in the cabin, he said it worked. He said that wasn't common in Peru. So the extinguishers do work, and that saved seven, Corey, and he said, if the bullet that killed Ronnie and Sarah D. had gone further, it would have killed the pilot, because they were sitting behind the pilot, and in that case all the occupants of the plane would have been killed.

He said neither he nor Corey, the boy, were terrified. There were no screams, no crying. They experienced the peace of Christ in their hearts. Isn't that wonderful? Some of you have experienced that peace.

Some of you have been in a place of sorrow, and you felt yourself sustained, and you said, that's not me, that's the Lord of me. In spite of the pilot's terrible leg injury, he was still able to bring that plane down on the water of the Anaconda River.

And you know that, they used a leg suit as well, with their arms. Jim Bowers had enough strength, here's another miracle he saw, he had enough strength to get his wife's body and his little girl's body out of the plane, into the water, before the plane.

God's planes, God's planes always run. A canoe came by, a motorized canoe came by, just as Kevin's strength and Jim's strength were giving out, so they weren't going to hold on anymore, and the canoe came along for the right thing.

The plane was shot down near a village where Jim knew some of the people. He had come along there in their houseboat, and he had ministered the gospels that he preached, and some of them were there, and they knew Jim and recognized him.

And they had witnessed what had happened, and they sent a radio call for help, and he said, this particular radio worked, which they don't always do. When Jim used the radio to call the pilot's wife, he was at home, and nearby was another pilot who was ready, right away, to come in another plane and take Kevin for a medical.

The Glory That Outweighs Present Suffering

Are the consolations of Christ too small for you? You hear people experience that, in that terrible day, on that... I'd like to go over some of the consolations of Christ. Maybe there's somebody here, and their heart is broken today.

You come all dressed in nice clothes and all the rest, but underneath you're wearing sackcloth. Well, let me share some of the consolations of Christ with you. I consider that the sufferings of this present world are not really to be compared with the glory which shall be in us.

That's lovely, isn't it? Romans 8 considers that the sufferings of this present time are not really to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. In other words, all that we go through in this life, by way of suffering and sorrow, is a tincture.

I mean, right at the time, they're hard. The sorrow is great, but when you compare them with the glory which shall be revealed in us. When we go to be with the Lord, when we look upon his face, and a similar verse in 2 Corinthians 4, 17.

For our life, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding. Our life is as tall. I mean, you think of what the Apostle Paul meant to say in the way of a flip. Very soon then in the history of the Christian Church, it's a far more exceeding.

That's an interesting expression, great of glory. You think of the glory of the sun shining. You think of those rays of the sun that are coming down from the sun to us today. Do they have rays? Well, scientists say they don't have rays, and Paul uses that fact.

What we're going to do now is nothing that can be compared with the coming glory. Far more exceeding and eternal, great of glory. Our sorrows are temporary, our glories are eternal. In 2 Corinthians 1, 3 and 4, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercy and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulations, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted.

God as the Source of Mercy and Comfort

That expression, the Father of mercy, oftentimes when the word Father is used, it means the source of mercy. Our Father, our Heavenly Father, is a source of all mercy, and He's a God of all comfort. Did you know that's very true?

Some of you have had the experience, I'm sure, that some sorrow has come into your life, and friends crowd around, and they seek to comfort you, and they mean well. But, you know, it usually doesn't take some verse of Scripture.

And that verse of Scripture comes home to your heart in power. And Luke 12, verse 67, Are not five pharaohs sold for two copper coins? That's beautiful. I don't think they're any copper. Did you know that people today, if they see a copper coin, most people today won't bother to pick it up.

Why? Because you can't use it for anything. You can't use it for anything. You can't even put it in a parking meter anymore. And I heard that. That most people won't stop and pick up a copper coin that is lying there in their pocket.

God is blood in us, I think. It says, Here are not five pharaohs sold for two copper coins, and not one of them is forgotten before God. That's a gender. And not one of them is forgotten before God. It says, But the very hairs of your head are numbered.

Do not fear, therefore. You are of more value. Ironside, and I've quoted it before, Ironside used to say, God attends the funeral of every pharaoh. Not one of them falls to the ground without your heavenly father.

God attends a funeral. I've heard this a lot of years. He attends a funeral. You are of more value. Many pharaohs, not one, many. I like Isaiah 63, verse 9. It says, In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity.

He redeemed them, and he bore them and carried them all the days of old. That's beautiful. In all their afflictions. He's speaking about Israel there. In all their afflictions. He was amazed. It means that every pain that comes to my heart.

Christ Shares the Suffering of His People

I think that's a tremendous source of comfort. I'm not in it alone. He's registering in the courts of heaven. He cares. You see that, of course, in the life of Saul of Tarsus, don't you? Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?

He was persecuting the Lord's people, but the Lord sheltered in heaven. The Lord sheltered in heaven. In persecuting his people, they were persecuting. Hebrews 13, sign. For he himself hath said, the Lord, he himself hath said, I will never leave you.

So when I think of what that verse has meant to suffer and sorrow and tense down through this century, the promise of the abiding presence of the Lord Jesus. And that leads me to say that, you know, sometimes our friends are stricken with a disease, and it seems obvious from the very beginning that he's not going to heal them.

He could, but it seems very obvious. I would feel that way about the girl in the hospital back in Virginia today. How do you pray? Do you pray that the Lord will heal her? Well, you could. But it seems to me he's already said he's not going to.

I pray that the Lord will sustain the loved ones in a supernatural way so that they will know the presence and power of Jesus. Pray that the Lord will sustain the people, the loved ones, in such a supernatural way that they will realize, this is wonderful.

I couldn't believe it, that I could do like this at a time. Isaiah 41, verse 10. Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Jesus the Sympathetic High Priest and Burden Bearer

The marvelous, loving care of our God and Father. Fear not. I think I read one time that that verse was fear not of Psalm 356. Don't tell me you like to read it. I am with you. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but within all points tempted as we are. There's one in the glory today. His name is Jesus. He's able to sympathize. He knows what we're going through.

We're not just a lonely light stick out there in a sea of nothingness. We're here to his heart. He is there to help us to sympathize with our weaknesses, in all points tempted. You say, well brother, it's a tremendous burden on my heart, but I'm going through it the perfect time.

Thank God we have a burden bearer. Psalm 55, verse 22. Cast your burden, and he shall sustain you. He shall never suffer the righteousness. Cast your burden upon the Lord. That's wonderful, isn't it? And he will sustain you.

You'll never suffer the righteousness that he will. That's real. So how do I do that? You do that by appropriating the word of God by faith. Say, Lord, Jesus, this burden is too much for me. I'm just going to roll it off.

And there's no use if he's carrying it anymore. If he's carrying it, that's adequate. If he's bearing the burden, that's enough. No use for me to take it back again, if he's not bearing it. Your arm is 30 feet underneath.

This verse you read said, I will bear you. Carry you. Let's say, underneath. Never a heartache that he's not there. I love you. Never lost an arm underneath. We're being sustained. We're being held up.

By those. Are the constellations of God too small for you? They're not too small. One of the great ones in my life is Psalm 30, verse 5. It says, weeping may endure for a night. And I think that's lovely.

Hope of Joy, Resurrection, and Eternal Life

That idea, weeping may endure for a night, becomes like an overnight larger. Weeping. For the shortness of our lives, do you think of the time spent in weeping? It's a little more than that. It's kind of an overnight afterbite.

The joy comes in. And we can say that through our tears. What we're going through right now is tough, but the joy is coming. And the joy comes, it's not for a morning. It's not for an evening. The joy is further.

The weeping is temporary. The joy. I commend that verse to you. If you're a sorrowing saint today, Psalm 30, verse 5. Weeping may endure for a night. The joy comes in. The joy of seeing his face. The joy of being made like him.

The joy of reunion with those we've known down here below in the Lord. There's an interesting verse in Psalm 56, in verse 8. It says, you number my wanderings. Put my tears in your bottle. You number my wanderings.

Going through life. Everywhere I go in life. You know all about them. All your itineraries. All your trips. All your pleading. The Lord knows every one of them. Put my tears in your bottle. What does that mean?

It says, are they not in your bottle? God numbers. Even if they're not real tears. Even if your heart is bleeding. Are the consolations of Christ. I really get a thrill out of Revelation chapter 2. Verses in Revelation 2 and 3.

It says, I know your tribulations. The Lord Jesus, looking over the ship, reminds me of when John the Baptist was killed. What does it say the other disciples did? They went and told Jesus. Why did they go and tell Jesus?

Tremendous relief. Some overpowering sorrow or tribulation has come into our lives. Tremendous relief. Already told us that he knows. There's something beautiful about that. The disciples going and telling Jesus.

I understand what that verse means. Revelation 21 verse 4. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. And there shall be no more pain. For the former saints have passed away.

Imagine that. Imagine a scene. There's no crying. No tears. No death. No pain. And no death. He shall wipe away every tear. For the former saints have passed away. And then Revelation 22 verse 5. The next verse.

It says, and there shall be no night there. They need no lamp, nor the light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light. And they shall dream. There's no night there. I don't know how you are, but I'm trying to be nice when I talk to people.

My mind is racing. I can't turn off the wheel. Problems come to me. I'm so excited about it. I'll tell you. I just really love them. Well, there shall be no night there. They need no lamp, nor the light of the sun.

For the Lord God gives them light. There's a Christian preacher. He's 11 now. He's taken his time. And it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that we shall appear. Mind you, all sorrow, all pain will run away.

Our citizenship will. From which also we look to the Savior. The Lord Jesus Christ. Who will transform our lowly bodies. Body that may be conformed to his glorious body. According to the work in which he's able even to subdue all sins.

The Lord Jesus is able to subdue everything to himself. He's plentiful. And that same power can be used to take our bodies. Lord, salvation should have been less than that for us. It didn't have to go all that way.

To give us everlasting joy. But he wasn't satisfied. Chapter 4 verse. The marvel of the coming wrath is great therefore. Are the consolations coming to take us through all the sinless times of night. To the Lord's end.

Trusting God's Promises in Suffering

With all that's taken place. He's able to create 14 miracles. Is that sad? Is that? Blessed God, we thank you that you are indeed the God of all comforts. The father of mercies. We thank you that you are sufficient.

That your promises are enough for us. No matter what we're called upon to go through in life. Help us, Lord, to believe your word. To appropriate these wonderful promises to our hearts. That even though our hearts might be broken.

Yet we can be a witness to you. To your greatness. And your praise. That in all the trials of life. That others may see Jesus. The afternoon is really near.