If you have your Bible, I would like you to open it to the last book in the Old Testament. This really is the last book in the Old Testament. Now, in the Old Testament in the English Bible, we do not have the books in the same sequence as in the Hebrew Bible. In the English Bible our books are not in the order in which they were written. For instance, one of the latest books is Nehemiah. Well, where do you find that in the English Bible? It is no where near the end. However, the book of Malachi, which is at the end of the Old Testament, does happen to be the last book that was written in the Old Testament. So, we are looking at something that was written by the very last of the Old Testament prophets who wrote the Old Testament. If you have your Bible, open to the book of Malachi, we will start reading in chapter 3, verse 1.

" 'Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,' says the LORD of hosts. 'But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the LORD, as in the days of old, as in former years. And I will come near you for judgment.' "Malachi 3:1

This passage of Scripture is not talking about the Second Coming of Christ. It is not talking about the return of Jesus to this world. It says, He is going to come suddenly to where?--to His temple. Suddenly, He is going to come to His temple. Now what temple is that? Turn in your Bible to Revelation 11. Here it talks about this same temple.

"Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, 'Rise and measure [what?]the temple [measure the temple] of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.' " Revelation 11:1,2 [All emphasis supplied]

So, He was saying, go and measure the temple and the people who worship there, leave out the court, it is given to the Gentiles, and they will trample it for forty-two months from 538-1798. What temple is this? Well, this is the same temple you read about in Ephesians. Look in Ephesians the 2nd chapter. Now, you will be able to figure out what it is. Look, this is plain. In Ephesians, the 2nd chapter, verses 21 and 22, it says,"in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into [what?]a holy temple. . ." Now what is this holy temple? Notice what it says in verse 22, ". . .in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit." A temple is a dwelling place for God. Paul is writing to the Ephesians. He is writing to the faithful in Christ Jesus, to those that are holy as he says in the first verse of his letter. He says you are being built into this temple. So, who is the temple? What is the temple that John was to measure in Revelation 11? What is the temple here in Ephesians 2? What is the temple in Malachi 3? What is the temple? It is God's people--His church. And the Lord says I am going to come suddenly, to My temple. When He comes, what is He going to do? Turn back to Malachi, chapter 3. In verse 2, it says He will come suddenly.

"But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner's fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold..."

So, what is He going to do when He comes to His temple? He is going to purify it. He is going to cleanse it. He is going to refine it. He is like a refiner's fire. Who is the messenger of the covenant who is going to come? It is Jesus. He is going to come to His temple suddenly, and He is going to sit there as a refiner's fire and He is going to refine and purify His people. This has a very specific application, because it says here in verse 5, "And I will come near you for judgment." This is talking about the time of judgment. When did that begin? The judgment began on October 22, 1844. By the way the devil knew this. If you study sacred history, the devil knew it very well. The devil knew that at that time God was going to send a special messenger. It says, "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me." The devil knew that and if you study sacred history you will find out that about the time the devil sent a whole series of false prophets into the world to get people confused. The devil knew that when that time came God was going to send a special messenger to prepare His people for His coming. That messenger was Ellen White and she received her first message that very year--1844.

We want to look at the earlier part where it says Jesus is going to sit as a refiner. Since that time, a refining and purifying process has been going on among God's people. The Lord Himself has set His hand to this work. Now, this refining and purifying process is something that is very trying to the soul, but it is necessary in order that all defilement might be removed. You can read it in your Bible in Ephesians, chapter 5. When Jesus comes again His church is going to be holy and without blemish. Have you ever wondered how it is going to get that way? Well, we just read it. He is going to sit as a refiner and a purifier of His people.

Now, do you know what this refining and purifying involves? I will tell you in just one word. It involves trial. As soon as a person finds that out, the body is in trouble and the first thing they want to know is how long is it going to be before I get out of this? How long is this going to go on? Have you ever heard that? Ellen White answers that question; let me read to you her answer.

"God's work of refining and purifying the soul must go on until his servants are so humbled, so dead to self, that when called into active service, they may have an eye single to the glory of God. Then they will not move rashly from impulse, and imperil the Lord's cause because they are slaves to temptation and passion, because they follow their carnal desires; but they will move from principle and in view of the glory of God." Review and Herald, April 4, 1894

God brings His people around and around the same trial, over the same ground again and again. As He brings you around to the same trials over and over again, He increases the pressure. Have you noticed that? He increases the pressure. How long does He keep doing that? He keeps doing it she says, until there is perfect humility that fills the mind, until the character is transformed and the person is victorious over self and they are in harmony with Christ and heaven.

So, God has a purpose in mind. The trials and the troubles that we are going through together and individually, they do not just spring out of the ground; it is not something that just happens; God has something in mind. He is getting you ready. By the way, once He has you ready, once He has His people ready, He is going to take you out of this world. You will never have any trials, troubles or disappointments again.

My brother Marshall was talking to me about this one time. He stated something I have never heard anyone else state. I started thinking about it and I said, "That is true." We were talking about this very subject of trials and tribulations, of trouble, pain and persecution. He said to me, "No matter how bad it is, we can know that it is temporary." That is true.

The suffering that we are going through, no matter how bad it is and no matter how it seems as if it will never end, is temporary. Have you ever gone through a trial where it seems as if you are in a pit and you will never get out of it? Have you ever had that feeling? If you are God's child, any trial or trouble that you go through in this world is temporary. God is getting you ready for a place where you will never have any trouble, trial, sorrow or suffering. God does not have three hundred years, friend, to get you ready as He did with Enoch. He does not have that much time. The only way He can get us ready is to allow us to go through some suffering. God permits us to go through fires of affliction, to take the dross, the defilement, the impurity out of our character-- to separate the worthless from the valuable. And so He passes us from one fire to another. Have you ever noticed that you think you are going to be in this thing forever? You feel that way, but all of a sudden you are not in that trial anymore, the trial is gone. Then you find yourself in another one. Have you noticed that? Now, that does not just happen. God is working on you and on me. He takes us out of that fire. He says now that is all the good they can get out of that fire, and He takes us out and puts us in a different fire, a different trial, a different trouble. You see there are different kinds of trials and troubles. Different people are going through different experiences. Different people right in this room are going through different kinds of trials. Isn't that right? But God is watching, Jesus is watching. He is watching the trial or trouble that you are going through. He is watching, and He is looking at the effect it is having on your character.

Let me read to you about that. This is very interesting. Ellen White writes, "Jesus watches the test. He knows just what fire of temptation and trial is needed to purify the precious metal, in order that the radiance of divine love may be reflected." Ibid.

Jesus wants you to be a reflection of His character, of His love. He sees what there is in you that is keeping that from happening. If you let Him, He will burn it out of you. He is going to refine you and take that out. The result-- we will be educated and trained, disciplined to do the Master's service, to do His will, and we will be a reflection of His character.

If any of you are ever in my office, I have one of my favorite statements from the Spirit of Prophecy about this very subject printed on a piece of paper and taped right in front of my desk so I can look at it every day. Ellen White says, that in the providence of God, the trials that we go through in this life are exactly what we need to perfect our character. Now, that is something you and I can not comprehend. That takes divine wisdom that we have no comprehension of.

But God even uses what the devil does to refine and perfect His children. Now, that is an amazing thing isn't it? Sometimes we get into trials and troubles and we say how can God allow this to happen? Well, God did not do it. There are things that happen to you and me that God did not do. The devil did it and God allowed him to do it. But you know when the devil heats up the furnace and you are going through trials and troubles, you know God is watching still, Jesus is watching that furnace and that fire and trouble you are going through. Did you know that Jesus will not let you go through any more "fire" then He sees that you need so that He can get you to the place where He wants you to be? This is an amazing process that is going on. If your life is submitted to God, Jesus is watching your life. He is watching every trial that you are going through and He is using these things to prepare you--to refine you like silver.

Another amazing thing about this whole process is that God does not just sit there, like this, and say, "Well, they are going to have to suffer "X" amount, and I am going to watch them." It is not like that. When Jesus allows you to go through the fire, if you are His child, He gives you power and grace to endure the heat. His grace is given to you sufficient for the need that you have. Now, different ones of us here in this room have different needs because we are in different kinds of fires, different kinds of trials. But how ever much grace you need, if you need twice as much as I need tonight, well, the Lord has twice as much for you. He gives how ever much that you need.

God told this to the apostle Paul. Let us look that up in the Bible. This is a biblical concept, that how ever much grace you need the lord will supply it. In II Corinthians, the 12th chapter, Paul had a problem-- a trial in his body. He prayed to the Lord three times and said, "Lord, please take that away from me." And the Lord said, "No." Now we do not know why the Lord said no, that is none of our business, but the Lord said no. Look at what the Lord told him. When the Lord the said no, He did not just say no. Look what He said in II Corinthians, chapter 12, verse 9. "And He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' "

God did not take it away but He said I am going to give you sufficient grace to endure this problem that you are having in your body. Look at what the apostle Paul said to Him.

"Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." II Corinthians 12:9,10

Where does his strength come from? It comes from the grace. So the weaker you are the stronger you are going to become. The weaker that you know you are than the stronger you become. You see, strong people tend to depend on their own strength; weak people do not have any strength to depend on so they have to depend on the Lord. Study your Bible that is what the Bible teaches. The Bible says of faith the weakest was made strong.

Sometimes God allows us to go through experiences where it just seems as if the powers of darkness surround us; it just shuts Jesus from your sight and you can not see Him. We are there bewildered in sorrow and amazement saying, "How is this ever going to turn out?" Sometimes these seasons are terrible when it seems as if we can not get through the clouds of darkness that are around us. What do you do? Jesus, Himself, went through that experience to a greater extent than you and I will ever have to go through. He actually went through an experience where His Father's face was obliterated and He could not see it. It was one of the most painful experiences of His whole life, perhaps the most. It was more painful then the cross. What do you do? You do what Jesus did. You trust in the Lord and just wait for that to go away. Remember when you get into a situation, where it seems as if everything is clouds and darkness all around you; there is no way out and you do not know what to do, you have to trust in the Lord and say, "Lord until this cloud passes away and I can see Your face again and see how You are working in my life, I am just going to trust You anyway."

Let me tell you, if you choose to do that, if you say, "Lord I am choosing to trust in You," you can not perish. It is impossible. Ellen White was describing in the book Desire of Ages about the man who came to Jesus. You will find that story recorded in Mark 9 and Matthew 17. The man who came to Jesus, whose son was possessed of a devil, said to Jesus, "If you could help us please?" Jesus immediately turned to him and said, "If you can believe."

It is not a matter of whether He can help, it is a matter of whether you can believe. That is always the way it is. It is never whether He can help, it is whether you can believe, whether you can trust Him. The man immediately said,"Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief." You see, he chose to believe, but he was struggling with doubt. So he said, "Lord, I believe," that is,"I choose to believe, help my unbelief--the doubt I am struggling with." Ellen White says you can never perish as long as you say that. If you choose to believe, when you are in these times of darkness and despair, you can never perish.

Now there are a number of reasons why the Lord allows us to go through these trying and testing experiences. One of the reasons, as you can read in the first verses of the fifteenth chapter of John, is we have a tendency as Christians to bear more foliage then fruit. You know what I am talking about? The foliage represents our profession; the fruit represents our character. We have a tendency to bear more foliage, more leaves than fruit. If you have ever taken care of grapes, you know that if you do not prune them back they will just grow leaves all over the place. If you really want a lot of grapes, you will have to prune them. That is the way we are. You know what happens to us if everything goes right? It is very easy for us to focus on collecting and gathering in the massive worldly treasures, to place our heart on the things of this world, on pleasures, ease and luxury. We get our eyes on all these things around us. God sees what is happening, so He has to come to us with the pruning knife. Then we wonder what has gone wrong. I am now suffering loss, or I am suffering bereavement or I am suffering in disappointment. As a result of the pruning knife, we begin to bear something more then just leaves, but that pruning hurts. These sorrows that we have do not just spring out of the ground, God has a purpose in this--a purpose to work out for our good.

Now, friend, if you are going through a hard experience and God has applied the pruning knife to your life, do not ever think that God has forsaken you. The very fact that He has allowed you to go through so many trials means that He is wanting to do something good in your life and prepare you for heaven.

Jesus told His disciples, "Not even a sparrow falls on the ground without your Father knowing." Matthew 10:29. The next verse says, "The very hairs of your head are all numbered."

Do not ever feel that when you are going through a trial or a trouble and you can not figure out how this is going to work out or why it is happening; do not ever feel that you are forsaken. By the way, very often when we go through this refining type of experience, we can not figure out during that time why this is happening to us, at least I can not. Now years later, I look back and I see things that I went through and I realize that there was a divine plan and purpose in my life. But when I was going through it, I could not comprehend any rhyme or reason for why I had to go through it all. I found out that this is not an uncommon experience for other people too. If you look back in your life and you can see that God has been working, but right today, however, the trouble you are having seems unexplainable, do not ever feel that you are forsaken.

God knew that we would be tempted to feel that we were forsaken, and so He gave us a number of promises in the Bible so we would know that that is never, ever so. For instance, we could look at Matthew 28:20, where Jesus said, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." But look at this one here in Hebrews 13. Now, actually He is quoting from the Old Testament. You can find this promise in the Old Testament as well as the New. In Hebrews 13:5, the last part of the verse says, "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " Is the Lord ever going to leave you? No. Is He going to leave you in trouble? This is the time when He is the closest to you. Did you know that? The Bible says in Psalms 34:18, "The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart." Those who are in trouble the Lord is closest to. Do not ever let the devil tempt you to think that when you are in trouble, when you are going through the fire, this refining process, that you are by yourself, because you are not. That is when the Lord is watching you the closest. He knows every heart beat, every throb of mental or physical pain that you endure. He knows exactly how it feels and is watching with eager longing to be able to take you out of that fire as soon as the work is done, soon as the dross comes out. In fact, He wants to be so near you that He comes and goes through the fire with you. Remember the story of the three Hebrew worthies and how they were thrown into the fiery furnace? Did the Lord forsake them? No. He not only did not forsake them, He did not just watch them, He went right in with them.

Now, the Bible says that God is no respecter of persons. Have you read that in your Bible? I have found it several places in my Bible. If He went with those people when they were thrown into the fire, do you suppose that if you were thrown into a fire of any kind that He will go with you too? He will. The form of the fourth will be with you, too. God will not forsake you. Not only will He not forsake you, when you are really in trouble, but He will be right there with you. His abiding presence will comfort and sustain you. You will not be destroyed by the fire, just the dross will come out of your character.

You see when God looks at you, when God looks at me, He sees what we can not see. He knows our characters better then we do. He knows our weaknesses better then we do. He knows exactly what we need so that we can become like Him. Let me read to you something Ellen White wrote about people who go through the fire of trial and temptation and what Jesus will do for them.

She says, "Living faith in the merits of a crucified Redeemer will carry men through the fiery furnace of affliction and trial, and the form of the Fourth will be with them in the furnace, however fierce its heat; and they will come forth from its flame with not even the smell of the fire on their garments." Ibid.

Isn't that interesting? He will stay with you throughout the fire and when the fire is over it will be completely gone, you will come out and even the smell of the fire will be gone. God knows the weak points of your character and the weak points of my character. Sometimes God allows us to get into difficult situations so that we will find out what He already knows--what it is in our character that needs to be changed. (Have you ever been in a situation or trouble and you found out something about yourself when you were in that trouble that you did know before? I do not know how many times that has happened to me.)

Well, what does God want us to do? God wants us to critically examine these complicated emotions and motives in our hearts. By the way, are you aware of the fact that you are very complicated and that you have some complicated emotions inside, sometimes complicated conflicting emotions. Sometimes God allows you to get into trouble so that you will learn what emotions are really operating inside. God wants us to know our own hearts and He wants us to detect what is wrong with our feelings and emotions and then ask Him to change and modify them.

God allows or permits various kinds of trouble and afflictions to assail us, so that we will see what it is inside that needs to come out and then ask Him to take it out. If we look, if we realize this, we will have a completely different idea and attitude towards trouble then most people have. Many people when they get into trouble believe it is just something to lose their temper about. But when a Christian gets into trouble he realizes that he is to be refined.

Let me show you. Look at II Corinthians, the fourth chapter, to see what the apostle Paul understood about this. Starting in the sixteenth verse, He says, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,[you see, Paul understood that it was temporary] is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen." II Corinthians 4:16-18

What are the things that are seen? That is the trouble. But he says that we look ". . .at the things which are not seen." Now what are the things that are not seen? That is when you realize that God, through this trouble is preparing me for heaven. He says, "For the things which are seen are temporary." That is the trouble. Always remember when you are in trouble that all the trouble in this world is temporary. It will help you get through it when you realize you are not going to be here forever. All trouble in this world is temporary.

"But the things which are not seen. . ." What is not seen? This is the character that is being refined inside of you. This is what God is doing in your mind and in your spirit--refining your character. The character that God is working on, if you allow Him to do it, is going to last for how long? It is going to last forever. He says, "The things which are not seen [that is the things which are inside of you] are eternal." So while we are going through all of these battles, trials and troubles, Jesus, as we saw in Hebrews 13, stays with us and gives us grace. His heart goes out to us and He gives us comfort. Jesus comforts His people when they are in trials and struggles. He does not let us go through it alone. This is something that the person of this world does not have. People of this world have to go through their troubles alone. But if you are a Christian you do not have to go through your troubles alone. Jesus says, "Fear not, for I am with you." Isaiah 41:10. You say, "O Lord, I am going to die." He says, "Do not be afraid, I am alive and I was dead, but I am alive. And I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of the grave and death. You do not need to be afraid of anything."

Here is what He tells us. He says, "I know your sorrows." Why does He know your sorrows? Because He endured the same kind of sorrows that we have. He says, "I know your temptations." How does He know your temptations? Because He "was tempted in all points like as we are." Hebrews 4:15. He says, "I have seen your tears, in fact I have wept Myself." Did Jesus weep when He was here? The Bible says that He wept. You may say to Jesus,"My earthly hopes have been crushed." He says, "Well, if your earthly hopes have been crushed, then look to Me, I am going to give you something better then everything in this world."

If God has chosen, He has chosen to refine you. That is the message of Malachi 3. He is going to refine you as silver is refined and purge you so that you will reflect His character. This is always the way God has worked with His own chosen people to prepare them for heaven. In all ages He has done this. Look at what it says here in Isaiah 48:10. (Now, this is clear back seven hundred years before Christ.) "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."

Now this is a great work that God is doing. He is preparing a people for heaven. This work of proving and purifying involves suffering, because it costs something to bring our will into harmony with the will of God. It costs something, but when the furnace fires have consumed the dross and we are purified, do you know what is going to happen? We are going to reflect the image of Jesus perfectly. I want to tell you this is the most fantastic project that is going on in the whole world. Jesus is working on human hearts, changing them so that instead of reflecting the image of the devil, they reflect His image. Jesus is preforming experiments on human hearts. Do you want Him to preform an experiment on your heart? Do you want to fully reflect the image of Jesus? If you do, you must allow Jesus to preform the experiment of grace on your heart. You must have strong faith and trust in Him, allowing Him to take you through various experiences that will help you have that faith and trust in Him.

Do you know, friend, Jesus wants to do something for you and for me that is vastly better then anything that we have ever thought of doing for ourselves? Do you believe that? When you reflect His image, you are in a position so that He can give to you eternal life. People in this world want to have joy. People want to be happy. Some people spend their whole life trying to find out how to be happy, and they still never find it. You can never find joy going contrary to God's plan for your life. The only way that you can be happy, the only way that I can be happy, is to live to make others happy, to live a life that is devoted to Christ and His cause. If we do that, devoting our lives to Christ and His cause and choosing to suffer whatever we need to suffer, we will be ready for Jesus to come.

The Lord is the one that is in charge. By the way, I have met some people some times, and they are afraid that they will not be ready when Jesus comes. They say, "You say Jesus is coming soon, and that is true, but there are so many things wrong with me, how will I ever be ready?" Do not worry about that, friend, that is God's problem. If you have given your life to Him, and you have promised to follow Him, and you say I have this many things wrong with me, what am I going to do? The Lord says that is not your problem that is His problem. If you give your life to Him and choose to follow Him, you will have to go through some trials but He will get you ready in time. Does Jesus know when probation is going to close? Oh yes, He knows. I do not know, but He knows. Does He know everything that you need to be ready for that time? Oh yes, He knows. So let Him worry about that. Just surrender your life to Him, choose to follow Him and He will get you ready. Does the Bible promise that? Oh, it most certainly does.

Look in Philippians 1:6, it says, that the one who began a good work in you will do what? He will finish it. God does not start and then not finish. He does not start and then quit and not get the job done. So do not worry about that. Don't let the devil tempt you by saying,"There are so many things wrong with me, how will I ever get ready in time?" That is God's problem, not your problem. All you are to do is to surrender your life to Christ and say, "Lord I am choosing to follow you all the way. What ever trial or trouble that you allow to come to me, I am going to accept it with joy, knowing that You are getting me ready and You are going to get me ready in time."

Well, someone says, "There is so much of me to get ready that maybe He will just have to send one trial after another." He might. But do you know if the Lord has to send you one trial after another, with the trials He will send you the strength to endure any trail that you have to go through. Isn't that wonderful? He knows the strength of every trial and temptation, an He will strengthen you for every trial.

Let me read to you something about that from the pen of Ellen White. She says, "There are foes to be resisted and overcome, but Jesus is by our side, ready to strengthen us for every attack." Review and Herald, April 17, 1894. Isn't that exciting? The exciting thing about that is Jesus knows exactly how you are going to be attacked tomorrow. Now, I do not know how I am going to be attacked tomorrow, I have learned that long ago. I have no idea how I am going to be attacked tomorrow, but Jesus knows. What ever the problem is that I face tomorrow, He has all the strength and grace ready for me that I am going to need. Isn't that wonderful?

Now what does II Timothy 1:12 say? "For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded [confident] that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." When is that day? That is when He comes back again.

Do you know, friend, God has decided something. (I was so happy when I found this out. I have had this problem and I have found that there are many other people that have had this problem. They are afraid that someway, sometime, some temptation is going to overpower them and they are going to lose out on salvation--lose out on everything. Have you ever met someone that had that kind of temptation? They were afraid that something was going to happen and they were going to fall and miss out on eternal life.) Do you know what? God has decided something. Did you know that? Let me tell what He has decided.

God has decided that no temptation is to overcome you if you choose to put your trust in Him. There is no temptation ever going to come to you that you will not be able to overcome. Something is not going to happen that is going to overwhelm you and cause you to lose eternal life. That is not going to happen if you choose to trust in the Lord; He has already decided that. Now I did not decide that, I couldn't, but He has decided that. And if you choose to put your trust in Him, you can have that confidence. You do not need to be walking around in despair and discouragement saying,"Oh no, am I going to be able to overcome smoking before probation closes? Am I going to be able to overcome drinking before probation closes? Am I going to be able to overcome losing my temper before probation closes? What am I going to do? I have all these problems in my life and how am I ever going to..." Listen, the Lord has already decided that if you choose to put your trust in Him, there isn't any temptation going to overtake you that you can not cope with. He is going to give you the power to cope with it.

Now let us read that in the Bible. Look in I Corinthians 10:12,13, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

What is the way of escape? That is when you receive grace. Grace, friend, is powerful. God's grace has divine power with it. Any temptation that comes to you, if you are choosing to put your trust in Him--He says, "I am faithful." Do you know that God stands behind this promise? God stands behind it! Listen, let me tell you something. If at the end of the millennium, there was one person that had ever lived in this world in the last 6000 years that could come to God and say, "Lord, I put my trust in You, and I chose to follow You and I did not have enough grace to overcome my alcohol" or "I did not have enough grace to overcome my overeating," or whatever their besetting sin was. If there was one person that could come to the Lord and say, "Lord I chose to put my trust in you and I never got enough grace to overcome this." Do you know that if there was one person who could say that, it would destroy the government of God? Did you know that? It would prove that He told a lie.

But guess what? The Bible says God is faithful. There will be millions of people that are lost because they have stayed in the life of sin, but there will not be one person that will be able to say, "Lord I chose to surrender to You; I chose to go all the way with You and I could not get enough power from You to overcome my besetting sin." There will not be one person that will be able to say that, because God is faithful.

Friends, I have talked to people that have tried to overcome various sins in their lives over and over again, and they could not do it. And I said, "Look the Bible shows you how to do it. If you will do what the Bible says, God will do His part." If you do not do your part it is presumptuous for you to ask God to do His part. But if you do your part the Lord says He will always do His part. Someday the devil is going to find out something. Ellen White wrote about this in the book Great Controversy. At the end of the millennium, do you know what the devil is going to find out? He is going to find out that with all of his hellions plots to try to destroy the people of this world, he was powerless to destroy one person who put their trust in Jesus.

Do you want to put your trust in Jesus tonight? Oh, you are still going to have to go through trials. He is a refiner. He is going to put you from one fire to another to get you ready for heaven. He is going to send you from one trial to another to get you ready. But I want to tell you, friend, if you will put your trust in Him, He will never forsake you. We read it. He will give you all the grace that you need. We read it. He is faithful; He will never suffer you to be tempted more then you will need. We read it from the Word of God--God has decided.

Let me read to you what God decided from the pen of Ellen White. "The promise of God is, that there shall no temptation overcome those who by living faith lay hold of the Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Review and Herald, April 24, 1894.

Do you want to make that decision tonight? Do you want to say, "Lord I am choosing to put my trust in Jesus; I am going to trust Him to give me the power to do what He wants me to do?" Are you going to do that? If you do that, you will receive the power. I have seen it happen over and over again. I have talked to people in prisons that were rapists and were there for capitol murder indictments and all sort of things. I would be afraid to preach in prison if I did not know the real Gospel. But let me tell you when you know the real Gospel, and a person puts their trust in Jesus, the Lord delivers them from the power of sin in their life, and they begin to live a Christ-like life, not just out in public but in their own home, in their own family. The Lord wants to work a miracle in your life and my life. Do you want Him to do that? Well, if you want Him to work that miracle in your life, say, "Lord I am choosing to put my trust in Jesus and Him alone. I am trusting that you will cause this miracle of grace to be worked out in my life." If you believe and have made that commitment, He will not let you down.