The Discipline of Darkness | Part 1

In God's people experienced times of darkness listen to Adrian Rogers. Sometimes we as God's people go through darkness and just don't see a to make sense of anything that we listen to our preaching. We have learned a little formula's we've written about our promises and just about the time we have it all figured out.

We are flying in to be perplexity and despair. What do you do when the lights go out.

Welcome to Leavenworth. Sometimes darkness focus upon self belief. Experience deep six despair and we may not know why this pastor, teacher and author Adrian Rogers said sometimes we may not know why. In order that we might know what can we do when the lights go out.

How can we remain faithful to God and honor him in the midst of darkness.

If you have your Bible turn to Isaiah chapter 50 will begin in verse 10 as Adrian Rogers reveals the discipline of darkness.

Sometimes we go through darkness sometime this we can see ahead. Sometimes nothing seems to make sense. Maybe we have a wayward child maybe the financial reversal.

Maybe there is a broken fellowship and we just don't seem to be able to make sense of anything that we listen to our preaching. We studied our lessons we've learned a little formula's we've written down our promises and just about the time we have it all figured out. We are plunged in 2BD perplexity and despair.

I suppose her question. The pastor's eyes more than any other question is this why pastor tell me why should such a precious little girl die at such an early age pastor tell me why I cannot carry this baby to term pastor tell me why my wife is treating me this way way for me perfectly wonderful marriage and her children tell me pastor why one biker preaching for long time. I found out that why is not our question God has the answer to that. How is the important thing to us how we going to react what we do when the lights go out when nothing seems to me says well you know we feel like we couldn't bear under almost anything if we just want but when were suffering and it doesn't make sense. Well, our Scripture today is a wonderful, wonderful Scripture and I pray God here right upon your heart. Isaiah chapter 50 beginning in verse 10, who is among you that serious. The Lord, that old bear the loss of Sir Ellis to stop by there we would say somebody's fearing God and obeying God's servants, we would think they would be walking in the light would say.

Well, the next step is that they'll be walking in the light listen to it is among you, for the Lord that obey the voice of his servant that if in darkness and have no light. Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay up on his job, behold, all ye that kindle a fire that can pass yourselves about with sparks walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled.

This sure you have of mine hand you shall lie down in sorrow. Now here's a question. What do you do when the lights go out.

What is the discipline of darkness.

Well I will give some propositions number one, those greatest devotion may know the deepest darkness those greatest devotion may know the deepest Matthew.

Look at verse 10. Again, you can find out that God is not talking to someone who has wandered far away from home and needs to come home. As we just heard when talking about someone who fears the Lord is many cringe is at the idea of God fears level in his knees. It is a reverential call for Almighty God.

A person has great respect and reverence for God, and who own basal voice of God servant when the word of God is preached, he says yes Lord, I will bet you, and yet they seems to wall in darkness. Now there's no fine print of the contract and I wanted to leave you considering becoming a Christian. It is not all sweetness and light. Sometimes I think we overpromise in order to somehow get people to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is a distorted idea that if you become a Christian.

It will be all joy, all light and all sweetness and just roses all through life there be no sickness to be no sorrow. We just going to go through life and ever ascending scale of health and success in, and then were going to die this renal agent and have a glorious exit go to heaven be nice if it happens that way. But folks, it generally does not, it generally does not. There's no need to deny there are thousands of sayings that fear God and obey God who are walking in this matter.

As we study the Bible you find out that was true of the Bible sayings. For example, Joe Bible says the scope was an upright and perfect man. He feared God. Yet Joe was in darkness, putting a margin Job 19 verse eight, Job said he has fenced up my way that I cannot pass modern English.

She's headed me off of the past and he had set darkness in my pants, who is known that God is good and that God set darkness in the path of good old Job, and Job said, Lord, I just don't understand this. I was reading about Habakkuk the prophet Habakkuk went to God morning to get some answers to things that he could understand. Habakkuk chapter 1 verse two he says the Lord shall I cry about will not hear even a cry out under the of violence, but that I will not say Habakkuk says God I have stayed with my prayer God. God, it doesn't make sense. I read the Bible about John the Baptist was John the Baptist a great man. Jesus said there was not a greater born of woman than John the Baptist and John the Baptist got down in the dungeon and ease in darkness and he can understand he got so perplexed even sent messengers to ask of Jesus, are you really the Messiah people really are.

Should we look for somebody that's not a bad man was saying that that was a good man, a man who was deeply perplexed.

I read about the apostle Paul mother greater Christian ever live in the apostle Paul, the apostle Paul said in second Corinthians chapter 4 verse eight we ask is I will Paul come home and you must be backslidden when he was a backslidden he wasn't backslidden at all. He said where perplexed and troubled on every side, yet not distressed where perplexed, but not in despair. Paul knew that darkness meet up with him in despair after something else. If you read outside the Bible, just read the biographies. The history of the great saints. Not a one of our hardly one of them that does not speak sometime what we call the dark night of the soul when they have gone through darkness and despair that we talk about man fears the Lord obeys God if you're in darkness right now if you plunged into darkness if things don't make sense to you, that does not mean that you have sin are your out of the will of God. Remember our proposition that those of greatest devotion may know the deepest darkness, maybe no proposition number two the faith that is born in the light is often developed in the dark mass? When have you grown the most spiritually was all sunlight and roses are when there was darkness and difficulty and despair and heartache and tears are not those the times in the darkness that you grown the most faith like film is developed in the darkness. The names of three men named John and see what happened to these men when they were darkness for Jeff and one is John Milton who is blind John Milton in the darkness of his blindness wrote one of the greatest books ever paradise lost.

Another was John Munyan was put in Bedford prison and suffer their language there in darkness and despair.

In many ways but John Bunyan in this time of darkness, wrote Pilgrim's progress again a book that is less the world.

Another man named John was on the island of Patmos exile. Now Patmos for the testimony of Jesus Christ events on their wrote the book of Revelation until you folks.

There's faith that is developed in the darkness.

Now God wants to develop your faith. A wise man said, never doubt in the dark. What you've learned in the light. Your faith born in the light grows in the dark by way the test of your character is what you do in the dark map. How does God develop our faith in darkness.

Look again at verse 10. It tells you to do two things. If you darkness look right now at verse 10 was among you that fear the Lord that obey the voice of the servant that walk within darkness and have no light is like tells you to do living trust in the name of the Lord and stay up on his God.

Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay up on his God number one to the Lord, trust in the Lord one wispy said we live by promises not by explanations that is tremendous wisdom, we live by promises not by explanations known to man.

They got explain something to you just stay on his word just because it doesn't make sense to you, doesn't mean it doesn't make sense just because it doesn't make since you now does not mean it will not make sense to you later own mother great man of yesteryear. Thomas Watson said were reason cannot wade faith must swim just trust God just keep on trusting just people obeying God that you pray and darkness comes don't stop praying. Just keep on praying.

Even when you don't feel like praying, as I said don't bring to God the brass of your emotions, even in the darkness with both hands filled with incense of his work and just keep on praying, if you been witnessing and darkness comes and nothing seems to make sense to you, don't stop witnessing just people witnessing if you been giving your bedtime and everything goes upside down and you lose your job and everything to be wiped out. Don't stop tithing just keep on time. If you are a wife and you been trying to win your unsaved husband to Jesus and he seems to get meaner and meaner and more and more difficulty comes just keep on loving him just keep on submitting. If you been praising God and then everything seems to go wrong.

Don't stop praising Joss keep on praising when you don't understand when you don't feel like it, lift your hands by three praising, trusting, trusting, look to the Lord and then lean on the Lord look again. This verse says let him stay upon his God, my landlord stay is a word that is used is the root of the word that is used in the 23rd Psalm where it says thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Staff is something the shepherd would stay upon that he would lean upon, stay upon God when you're in the dark. You don't need an explanation.

You need God stay upon God's lien upon God. Listen to me is better to be in a dark valley leaning on God. Down the sunlit teeth without him just stay upon your God is matter fact, sometimes we may not know why, in order that we might know who. Sometimes God removes all the answers to give us himself as a great gospel song. You know it when answers are not enough there is Jesus. For example David in Psalm 23 was talking about his theology. We says the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He's talking about God, but then when he gets in the dark valley so Jade I want to the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me is not talking about God.

Nice talking to God. I mean he's having a relationship with God that he could not ahead in the light just stay upon God, standing somewhere in the shadows you going to find Jesus.

This is what God told Joe Job said God prepared a meal for the past you send darkness in my path, God, you owe me some answers. Job says I wish I could see you and talk with you. It's almost like God I'd like bring you into court, God, God, you may access the book of Job ends with Job never ever understanding you understand what happened to Job as you read the book of Job with Job and have the book of Job. When Job was going through all that darkness but at the headaches as galley slaves yet will I trust him and Joe discovered what I want you to discover that a relationship is more important than reason you have the reason you just have God walking in darkness, let him express the main floor.

Let him lead upon his God. Now there's a Adrian I'm not in darkness will just hold on just wait a while. This is some good medicine to keep on the shelf that will come a time when you will find out that not only is God necessary you find out that God is enough. God is enough. There is 1/3 proposition. Some things are seen in the dark. That cannot be seen in the light. Understand some things in the darkness that you would never have understood in the light that you are in verses 10 and 11. This backup verses three and four and knows what he says here God says I flew the heavens with blackness sees God who sends the darkness. I closed the heavens with blackness and make sackcloth the covering sackcloth is just dark cloth. God says I just pulled a veil over the song the Lord has given me the tongue of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. He wake up morning by morning, he wake us mind here to hear as the learned. What is all that mean are you going to wake up and you going to realize that the in the darkness.

You will learning some things that are some treasures of darkness, when the Bible uses darkness. Sometimes the Bible uses darkness as a symbol of evil, but sometimes the Bible uses darkness as a symbol of perplexity and the treasures in darkness.

If you were to go backward. Isaiah chapter 45 in verse three you would find out that God is speaking to the Persian king Cyrus and God said to Cyrus.

I will give the treasures of darkness. Think about the treasures of darkness there some things that are seen in the dark treasures that cannot be seen in the light, for example, if you ever heard in my say the stars are out tonight bring that out in the daytime. The stars do not go away in the daytime. You just don't see them in the data. The only time you can see the stars is at night and the stars are there to praise the Lord which you start to praise God, if it weren't for darkness. The stars that are there like a chandelier on the velvet blackness of night the stars are there and you could not see the star's were not for the darkness.

Now, in the light we see that which is near.

But in the dark. We see that which is far away in the light, we may see more clearly. But in the night we see further than just certain things that you see in the darkness that you can see the daytime.

You may think your brightest thoughts in the daytime, but you will think your deepest thoughts in the night in the times of darkness.

They go to be certain treasures of darkness.

There are things that are seen in the dark that you will never see the light giving a proposition that if these things are true, then it is better for you to be leaning on God in the darkness, then standing alone in your man made light. It is better for you to be leaning on God in the darkness, then standing alone in man made light Malik in verse 11 behold, all ye that kindle a fire that compassion to ourselves about with sparks walk in the light of your fire in the school. This of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand you shall lie down in sorrow. One of the great dangers of darkness is that you may be tempted to lie to Rome fire. Now remember that if this darkness comes to you and you are fearing God and obeying God and then the darkness comes. That means that darkness has been ordained of God. Remember what verse three says of this chapter, God says I flew the heavens with blackness. That is, the darkness is ordained of God. Not ever get the idea that darkness can chase away light if your lighted room. You can open the door let in the dark know. The light always chases away the dark. The dark can never chase away the light bill away, therefore, that darkness can come is what the light to be removed. So if the light has been removed. That means that God in his sovereignty has allowed you to be in the darkness that God has a reason for you to be in the darkness is a God who is close the heavens with sackcloth is God is done that God is done that know to be so foolish as to light your own fire when you like your own fire you get to get into difficulty because you going to try to undo what God is done now. The sad thing about the man-made fire is it is deceptive. If you walk in the light of the fire.

The sparks that you can unite and I'm sure God is. It's kinda like taking a flashlight going out at midnight looking of sundial see what time it is. You see, God says if you do this if you do this when you're in darkness.

If you like your own fire. This way you have of mine hand. God says you going to lie down in sorrow you're asking. You have great difficulty when you in a time of God ordained darkness, light your own fire will hear the conclusion of this important message coming up tomorrow, maybe today as you listen, you have a prayer request that you want to share with us at love worth finding one of our greatest honors is to come alongside you, and pray with you in for you, go to our website homepage@lwf.org/radio and scroll down to find a prayer wall you find the option to either submit a prayer request or to pray for others. This resource is one of our favorite ways to keep the ministry in the community praying continually for one another's needs. We can't wait to hear your prayer request again go to LWF.org/radio and scroll down to our prayer wall if you like to order a copy of today's message in its entirety.

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If you're in darkness right now.

Remember, don't try to light your own fire looking lean on God and be sure to join us again next time for the powerful conclusion of the discipline darkness right away when my Facebook friends reached out to us recently with this message, you may relate to. He said Pastor Roger sermons always remind me that even though we find ourselves in difficult times. The Lord is still enthroned working in ways we cannot fathom, I along with millions of Americans find myself suddenly unemployed after years of service and it's the encouragement of love worth finding in many other brothers and sisters in Christ that keep me tethered to our Lord. May our Lord be with you in all you do.

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