On Eagles' Wings Pt 148 — Don Courville

The Lord Gives Strength to the Weary

Has thou not heard? Has thou not known? That the Lord the everlasting God the Lord the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not neither is weary. There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increases strength.

Even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as Eagles. They shall run and not be weary and they shall walk and not faint heavenly father.

We commit this time to you today. Thank you father for bringing me and my family and safe through the southern part of Arkansas last night. Father, I thank you that we're here that we can watch you work.

We thank you father that we can walk with you. We can walk by faith and not by sight. Thank you that you provide for us as we go. You told us as we go to preach the word and as we go you'll provide our needs father.

I pray that today your word would not return into you void, but that it would accomplish that would you please father? I pray for those that are hurting those that are discouraged and broken that you would minister to them Through your word and I pray for those that are without Christ that you'd open up their hearts to see that without Jesus.

They don't have anything. They don't have life here. They have no joy here and they won't have anything after they die. To be absent from the bodies to be present with the Lord for those us that know you but father.

For those that do not know you we have a burden that they would know Jesus and I just pray Holy Spirit that you would draw Them to the Lord Jesus Christ. For you say in your word he that has the Son has life and he that hath not the Son of God Hath not life.

And we know father that your word says that if we don't have Jesus Christ as our Savior the wrath of God Abides on us. We don't know how bad we are father. So open up your word. We thank you father that you love us.

You loved us enough that you sent your son into the world not to condemn us. But you sent your son to die for us on the cross. Thank you that the Lord Jesus Christ was was crucified buried and that he rose again that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and you say father he that believeth on the Son hath Everlasting life and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.

We yield our time to you now in Jesus name. Amen. My it's good to be back with you. I Think it was about a month ago I was here and I didn't know if I'd make it back this Sunday or not we got down there in Louisiana and God opened up and and had a good time to share in my home church and then the Friday we got on the radio station down there on a new radio station and had a good time sharing on what God's been doing in revival and and You pray for us.

They'd like for us to put the program on down there and and break it up in five-minute sections. I've never done that. I'd have to have have a hard enough time trying to get everything recorded for this program, but God is able if he's in it.

We'll see it go and and there's some neat things happening down there. You know I've been sharing with you on suffering and I haven't had the time that I wanted to take you into this area. To study it out and to prepare the messages and last week.

I guess you noticed that there was a replay on last week's message and the Spirit of God would not give me any peace on playing the other side of that tape and I didn't know if it was from God or the devil.

So I wasn't going to take any chance if God didn't want it played then I sure didn't want it played. So I've got it in my pocket and I'm gonna listen to it and see what was on there that. Maybe the Lord didn't want you to have so that's why we played last week's this area of suffering.

God has been opening up my heart to see this and I'm I'm not any kind of specialist in this area. I know that there are some of you that could share volumes with me about the area of suffering. But I see that this is the deepest area of walking with Jesus that there is.

The area of suffering the scripture has much to say about it. I've been going through scriptures and God's been showing me neat things. I spent almost all day Friday with a doctor down in Alexandria, Louisiana.

Actually, he was in Pineville across the river. He's the one that got me on the station down there and he shared a passage with me. I knew about it. But I just forgot about it. I hadn't thought about it in relation to suffering and it's in the book of Deuteronomy in chapter 8.

Suffering in the Wilderness Produces Humility and Dependence

Remember how God took Israel? Through the Red Sea and into the wilderness and and he did all of this stuff and he took him through all these Experiences for a reason it said in verse 2 of Deuteronomy 8 That he said that that thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness to Humble thee and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart.

So here's some reasons for suffering to show them what was in their heart. In verse 3 it says in the humble thee and Suffered thee to hunger and fed thee with manna which thou knewest not neither did thy father's know that he might make thee know.

That man doth not live by bread only but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live. And of course This is what the Lord Jesus Christ quoted in Matthew 4 for so sometimes God lets us go through dry seasons of Different things maybe food literally maybe finances maybe even The joy of the Lord.

You go through a dry season where he withholds from you some spiritual blessing. So that we might know that he is our life. He is all we need. But it takes us a long time to come to the point to where the Lord Jesus Christ is all we want.

So this is a neat passage and also over in verse Oh 11 he said beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments and his judgments and statutes. Which I command thee this day you slip down to 14.

He says then thine heart be lifted up. He says he's talking about after they've prospered all their herds and flocks and multiplied. He said that they are to be careful that I that their heart not be lifted up that they forget the Lord their God Which brought them forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage and down in 16 He said that he fed them in the wilderness with manna Which their fathers knew not that he might humble thee that he might prove thee to do the good at the latter in and this Is the point of suffering.

God is not hurting us for for no reason at all. He's not letting us go through trials and suffering for no reason at all. It's that he might do us good. He is interested in you. He does care. He knows where you're at.

He knows your problem he knows it because he is custom-designed the trials for you and What he does many times is he takes our own blunderings. He takes our own mistakes. He takes our own Misjudgments and sometimes some of these are very hard and He works these things out for good to build into our lives the Lord Jesus Christ.

And God my friend if you're not Saved he is trying to get you to Jesus and you may be kicking and spitting and cursing and and hollering and complaining and bitter and mad and All the time God's trying to get you to Jesus.

If you don't get to Jesus you won't make it anywhere but to hell. I'm sorry if that offends you but this is the Word of God if we don't make it to Christ We don't make it to heaven. We go to hell. That's our designation right now.

We started there in the Adam and the whole human race has been heading that way and God's got a rescue program called Calvary where the Lord Jesus Christ shed his blood for you there at Calvary. Well, listen, I've got some more new stuff on suffering I wanted to share with you today.

So let's just get into it. And if you'd like to talk with me on We'll take a few minutes at the end of the program you call me here at the station. I'll be in the area here for at least probably a couple days and Maybe the Lord might want us to get together or something, but you get a hold of me.

I've got to get back. I'm down south the town staying with some friends and I ran off with my girls hairdryer this morning. So I've got to get back so they can get the hair done ready for The church that we're going to be going to this morning.

Suffering as a Consequence of the Fall and a Means of Transformation

Now. Listen suffering is a consequence of the fall. Suffering in the yielded believers life will produce if you let it it will produce the character and disposition of Christ. But suffering is a characteristic of the fall.

We all suffer. But suffering God uses this to get his diamonds the sharpest and the brightest. He uses suffering to get us just to the right Position that we he needs us to be in that Christ might read radiate through our lives.

Suffering will produce in your life a Spirit of compassion which will be necessary for ruling with Christ in the future. Now, this is a new area. I haven't even explored this one out. But you know God is preparing us for eternity.

One of the points that I have today that I want to share with you is this that Christ is preparing us for eternity. Remember that Jesus was a man of sorrows and he was acquainted with grief and Jesus said come unto me all you that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest.

He is our rest. What do we do? We go to our counselors many times. We we run off to our pastor when that's alright but you need to go to the shepherd the Lord Jesus Christ first and Go to him and get with him many times.

He's got something for you personally, but we go to counselors. We go to other people we take our pills. We do this and that and when many times God is wanting us to come to him. You see he desires to have close fellowship with you through the day.

He desires to walk with you to talk with you and he does in our spirit. He talks to us if we abide in him. Jesus said abide in me. He said without me you can do nothing. You know, you need to get along with God.

Maybe you just need to pull away for a week somewhere or at least a day or half a day and just get with God get your Bible and Get along with God and let him speak to you. One of our problems in praying is that we think that we have to talk all the time and Really we don't have too much to say to God, by the way, one of the deepest areas of prayer when God takes you into Praying he would take you into the word and you will begin to pray the word back to God our our our thoughts without the Word of God or vanity our ideas without the Word of God to back them up and be saturated with them or vanity and I don't care if you've got a vision or whatever if it's not grounded on the Word of God.

It's suspect it's suspect and God tells us to take every thought captive. You see these demons that are around they work in the area of thought and they're continually bombarding us with things. Yesterday morning when I got up has reading in 1st John chapter 4 on how love as it Saturates my being and God saturates my being it will cast out all fear.

Well as we were coming through the mountains last night down through a Western side of Arkansas we came all the way up the west side we drove in rain and in sleep and slush and some ice and and God just comforted my soul with this and I was able to try to minister to my wife this is an area where she's tested in to be in in mountains and in places that are sort of dangerous and God has been showing us things about how this fear will rob us of the fellowship with Jesus and You may not have a problem with fear.

You may have a problem with anger self-sufficiency bitterness Lust immorality or whatever, but whatever it is that you got it will rob you of that fellowship with Jesus. If you don't get victory over it.

So God's going to bring things into our life to test us to to draw us out to get that out of us. So it doesn't block off that fellowship. Suffering is for our good. It is for Our good, excuse me getting a little clogged up here now to follow Jesus is to Be called into the fellowship of his sufferings.

Remember Philippians 3 10. Paul said that I might know him and the fellowship of his sufferings. That is the deepest area of walking with Jesus. I believe are you my friend a partaker of Christ's sufferings?

Or are you a shirker a complainer a murmur. Are you prepared as chamber said for God to stamp out your personal ambition ambitions? Are you prepared for God to destroy? By the in working of the of the Word of God through the Holy Spirit.

Are you prepared for him to destroy your self-life and to destroy your individuality and to? Reproduce the image and the character of Jesus in your very being. When people see you they would see a glow in your life.

There'd be a peace in your life and they'd say wow, what is it? And you just say it's the Lord Jesus Christ my friend. Let me share with you about my wonderful Savior. Oh Let's get into something. We've shared about how suffering is to get us to Jesus.

How suffering is to make us like Jesus. How suffering is? Is to purify us and and I think the last time I shared with you on how suffering is one of God's special Privileges that he allows us to have.

Suffering as a Privilege in the Lives of the Saints

I was just thinking about a little poem here I got by Madame Gunion. She spent ten years of her life in French prisons, and you know that Bunyan did to he spent a lot of his time in the prisons and all that suffering produced Pilgrims progress and there's other works, but all these years that she was in prison from 1695 to 1705.

She was free. Listen. Here's a little poem. She wrote she said a little bird. Am I shut up from the fields of air and in my cage? I sit and sing to him who placed me there. Well pleased a prisoner to be because my God it pleases thee.

Nothing else have I to do. I sing the whole day long and he and he whom most I love to please death. Listen to my song he caught and bound my wandering wing. But still he bends to hear me sing. Thou hast an ear to hear a heart to love and bless.

And though my notes Were ever so rude thou wouldest not hear the less because I'll know us as they fall that sweet that same sweet Love inspires them all. My cage confines me round abroad. I cannot fly, but though my wing is closely bound my heart's at Liberty.

My prison walls cannot control the flight the freedom of The soul. Oh, it's so good to soar these bolts and bars above to him whose purpose I adore and in thy mighty will to find the joy the freedom of the mind.

Jesus loves you my friend. You know a few weeks ago. I received a letter From a man in the area, and I don't even know where this city is. But and by the way, sir. I'm I'm here at the station. I'll get your tape out in the next day or two since I can get it copied off mister.

I think it's Robin Cosman Causing not for sure but in Stark City. Can I read this to you? This came to me November 8th. So it's been about a month and sometimes it takes a while for me to catch up with my mail and also get tapes made.

But he said dear sir writing to me. I just heard your broadcast on Brokenness and shaping of living stones. Can you send me a copy of the broadcast? I needed that very message. Thank you. He says I suffer bad God.

And I'll get your tape to you. Thank you for writing to me. I appreciate that but God Is letting you go through suffering? Let me say this my friend God's letting you go through the suffering and thank you for writing.

He's letting you go through that for a reason. So keep your eyes on Jesus. Don't keep your eyes on your suffering. Keep your eyes on Jesus. We just glance at our suffering. We glance at our circumstances and then we keep our gaze on Jesus.

And this is what keeps us from getting so discouraged and and sometimes the pain is so bad That that it it gets to the point to where we can't even hardly keep our mind on the Lord Jesus Christ when you're going Through suffering you're dying of cancer.

You've got a tragedy or whatever, but ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Keep your gaze on Jesus. I have to do this. I forget the Lord sometimes through the day. I feel so bad that one of my continual Confessions to the Lord is that I forget him.

I'll just forget to think about him as I'm doing things and going places and he said to abide in him now. Suffering is a special privilege and when we get to the point where we recognize this we will get into some deep fellowship with Jesus.

You know chambers back on November 1st. If you read that that blessed little devotional booklet He said no, you're not that you're not your own. Isn't that good? Don't you know that you're not your own that like that song?

Let him have his way with thee. Let's don't struggle on the operating table of suffering. Chamber said there's no such thing as a private life a world within the world for a man or woman who is brought into fellowship with Jesus Christ.

Sufferings for God breaks up the private life of his saints and makes it a thoroughfare for the world. On the one hand I'm for it for himself on the other no human human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ.

Fellowship with Christ Through Suffering

One of the reasons that we complain in our suffering is because we're not there. Are you there? Well, I wished I could say I was there. But I have to confess that sometimes I complain. Sometimes I murmur and when the Spirit of God comes back and he points that out to me I feel so bad because I know it's against Jesus.

Chamber said no human being can stand that unless he is identified with Jesus Christ. We're not sanctified for ourselves. We are called into the fellowship of the gospel and things happen which have nothing to do with us.

God is getting us into fellowship with himself. Let him have his way if you do not. Instead of being of the slightest use to God in his redemptive work in the world. You will be a hindrance and a clog.

The first thing God does does with us is to get us based on rugged reality. Until we do not care what becomes of us individually as long as he gets us. Gets his way for the purpose of his redemption. Why shouldn't we go through heartbreaks through those doorways?

God is opening up ways of fellowship with his son and this is the key. God is opening up ways of fellowship with his son and This was will be what God will use to draw others to Jesus through you. Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain.

We sit down on the threshold of God's purpose and die away of self-pity and Also, so-called Christian Christian sympathy will aid us to our deathbed. Excuse me. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of his son and says enter into fellowship with me.

Arise and shine if through a broken heart God can bring his purpose to pass in the world then thank him for breaking your heart. Isn't that good? I don't like to take a lot of time to read stuff. But I will if it's good and comes what I sense from the Holy Spirit.

So let him have his way with thee if through a broken heart if through a disease if through a tragedy God can bring his purposes to pass in the world in your life and thank him for breaking your heart we Belong to him, you know, I was looking back over in Matthew 26 how the disciples they They denied the Lord they denied him just before he went to the cross and.

And I was looking at this how he came to them in the garden of Gethsemane in Matthew 26 and in verse 36 and and Jesus came Came to the garden there with him and he said sit you here while I go and pray.

Would you sit here while I go and pray yonder and so he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and he Began to be sorrowful and very heavy and then he said to them. My soul is exceeding sorrowful Even unto death tarry you here and watch with me and he went a little father and he fell on his face and he prayed Sin, oh my father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me nevertheless, not as I will but as thou with and he came unto his disciples and he found them asleep and He said unto Peter what?

Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time and he prayed saying oh my father if this cup may not pass away from me except I drink It thy will be done and he came and found them asleep again for their eyes were heavy and he left them.

Now went away again and prayed the third time saying the same words. Then he came back to his disciples, you know what God spoke to me and he said I wanted I Wanted some fellowship in my deepest hour of trial.

I Wanted some fellowship the Lord Jesus Christ wanted some fellowship in prayer. He needed prayer at that point of time and they failed and We fail. You know, you don't need to be more busy you don't need more things to do you need to pray more and You need to get with Jesus and he left them.

Oh What a tragedy if he would come to our life today to you or to me and he would want the fellowship of sufferings. He wants to produce into our life that deep abiding fellowship with him but he can only do it through that fine instrument of In that of suffering.

But he won't he we won't let him do it. We keep Shirking it and pushing them away. What a sad thing would be if he would just leave us. I Do not want him to leave me. I want to fellowship with him. You see God is bringing into my life in your life the things that I need the people that I need the Circumstances that I need and he does this to show as he did the disciples they saw what was in them.

They saw how weak they were. He does this to show what is in our heart weakness and then also to get us into fellowship with him so he will pound on us to destroy the self life to produce the life of Jesus and Most of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain.

We sit down on the threshold of God's purpose and die away of self pity as Chambers said Suffering is one of God's special gifts my friend. I have a little book. I was reading some stuff on this and and and I don't.

I don't read much. I don't have much time to read and there's not much worth reading out there. I mean if I went into a bookstore and picked out the stuff that would probably be worth reading I could walk out with it in my hands all the stuff in there.

There's just a lot of stuff that's written. But sometimes God will bring into your presence something that's good and and I don't know if I'll take the time. I don't think that I'll take the time today to read through this thing, but it's called tried by the Lord.

You know, we are tried by three three ways. We're tried by by people and then we're tried by The Suffering. Actually, it could be periods but we're tried by People and then we're tried by the Lord himself.

We were tried also by our own Mistakes and things but when the Lord tries us as it says of Job the word of the Lord tried him. Then we get into the deepest dividing us under a soul and spirit and The some of the things in here were so powerful maybe sometime I'll share some of these things with you, but when God Himself tries you be careful.

You do not blame it on the devil. You see Satan can't get through to you unless he has permission of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because you belong to him just like Job Satan couldn't get through to him. Unless the Lord allowed it and the Lord allowed it because he wanted to get to a certain area in the life of Job Job thought he was he was holy.

That he was righteous and he was but there was one little area in his life that God hadn't got yet. And so he let Satan in and when he was done Job said I am vile. I Am vile and he was tried by the Lord not by Satan.

So be careful. You might get into trouble. Now, let me share with you another area God allows us to suffer to bring happiness in our life. You want to be happy, you know, I want to be happy. I'm a pessimist by nature.

So I have to be filled with the spirit of there is nothing showing but flesh and that flesh. It's not very good Matter of fact, it's rottenness. It's from the pit. It all goes back to the source is Satan and So much of it the the deepest core of it is pride.

Suffering for Righteousness and the Happiness of Wisdom

It's pride, but if you want to be happy, then we have to do what God wants. I was looking at first Peter 3 and verse 14 but and if you suffer for righteousness sake happy are ye and Be not afraid of their terror and neither be troubled, you know many of us suffer because of Illnesses and things but when you suffer because you are righteous you're filled with the Holy Spirit.

The Lord says He says don't be afraid. You're really the happiest person on the earth. This is a real real loose paraphrase. But he says if you suffer for righteousness for being filled with the Holy Spirit having the character of godliness in your life.

He says happy are you? You are really happy. You've got what the world wants. You've got Jesus living in your life. You're fellowshipping with him. So don't let them trouble you. Many times Satan gets us by getting us down.

We've got the joy of the Lord. We're filled with the Spirit and then we get blasted by somebody and maybe even somebody that claims to be a Christian and we'll lose Our joy because we get our eyes off on them.

We get our eyes off on those circumstances. You got to keep your gaze on Jesus and he goes on to down to say there in 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts be ready always to give an answer to every man that asked if you a reason of The hope that is in you with meekness and fear having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers.

They may be ashamed that falsely accuse you your good conversation in Christ, you know. It's a blessed thing for somebody to accuse you but your conscience bears witness. The Spirit of God says you're clean.

You're free. But you know what many times we lose it because we'll get angry at him and then we lost it. It's just as bad as if we'd if we'd done what they accused us to do. You know, so be careful. It's so easy to lose that fine walk with Jesus and he says for it is better if the will of God be so that you Suffer for well-doing than for evil doing.

Wow. God allows it to come into your life to bring happiness in chapter 4 1st Peter 1 and 2 for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh arm yourselves. Likewise with the same mind for he that has suffered in the flesh had ceased from sin.

To no longer Should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men. But to the will of God now you hang in here with us. I've been given some permission to go on a little bit longer this morning.

So I'm gonna go you give it to a preacher. He's gonna go. Now this happiness that you want, you know. Proverbs 3 13 says happy is the man that findeth wisdom. Many of us Christians we are all around the bush, but we never get right into the bush.

We're all around Jesus, but we really never get right into Jesus and let Jesus really get right into us. You see the Bible says he that is entered into his rest is ceased from his own works. Many of us are so busy right now.

We're burning out and burning out. All that is is activity in the flesh. You hear that term burnout? All it is is that activity in the flesh because when you're working in the spirit, you won't burn out.

But happy is the man that findeth wisdom the man that get it understanding. What is wisdom my friend? The scripture tells us that wisdom is Jesus. You go over to 2nd Corinthians 130. Jesus is wisdom happy.

Is that people whose God is the Lord you will be wise. Very wise and very happy if all you have in your life is Jesus. You know, the Bible says cease for men and I'm gonna get into that a little bit. This is one of the areas of suffering in our in our life.

We suffer from men. But if are you happy? If you're happy Jesus is Lord and happiness. This is the blessedness of the blessed. Blessed is the man that walking not in the counsel of the ungodly. This is the blessedness the scripture talks about this happiness.

If you're happy Jesus is the Lord. If you're not happy if you're struggling if you're bitter if you're confused. Then there's an area in your life or maybe your whole life. Where Jesus isn't the Lord are you the Lord of your life?

Or is Jesus the Lord of your life. Who tells you what clothes to put on this morning who tells you where to go? Who tells you what to eat. If the Holy Spirit is not telling you these things then you are not Letting Jesus be the Lord of your life now another area.

Fasting, Self-Denial, and Freedom from Human Control

By the way to avoid suffering is to sh is to shirk from the loving hand of God. To bring Jesus more clearly into focus in our lives if you will avoid the suffering. You're actually saying I want to be the Lord of my life in this area.

I don't want you to do this Lord. It hurts. I don't think you're doing the right thing. I don't think you're making a wise choice for my life. Then you're saying Lord. I want to be the Lord which is a contradiction actually.

Just say God. I want to be the Lord of my life and get it over with. You need to let go and let God be the Lord of your life if you're struggling now suffering will sharpen your spirit. I just want to touch on this but fasting makes the body suffer or so we think in reality.

In reality fasting is purging the body of contamination and Many of us are guilty. I am too of Contaminating the temple of the Holy Spirit with a lot of garbage. Too many sugar things putting things in there that have caffeine and stuff and I do this too, but I try to watch it.

Sometimes you get into situations where you just you know, you do it and we know we shouldn't but fasting reveals the poisons of pride and self-sufficiency. David said I humbled my soul with fasting.

Psalms 35 13 many of us will not fast. Because Jesus is not the Lord of life of our life. Matter of fact the pastor I'm working with up there right now. He says someone that does not have a surrender will cannot fast.

You can't fast if your will has not been reached by Jesus Christ and this is getting into the heart of the self-life the will. I just wanted to touch on this this morning now another area of suffering.

God uses suffering to break us free from man. Isaiah 222. Several months ago. God really spoke to me about ceasing for man. See she for man whose breath is in his nostrils. You see millions suffer because of the Things of man and demons can get into men and and influence other people.

You know millions suffer in India because men have told them that cows are holy and So they'll die the start die of starvation where there's there's roast beef and T-bone steaks and sirloins right there next to him.