I'll introduce him again. A good brother from Austin, Texas, formerly of San Antonio. Affiliated, if you've ever heard of, I'll be honest, Tim Conway. In fact, Tim Conway ordained him. Very brutal, you can go watch it on YouTube. I suggested we start ordaining like that, but it wasn't a popular suggestion. We love Tawfiq, and he's a, in our estimation, a good gospel preacher. We're happy to have him again. in the heat of summer year after he came last and so please be attentive and pray for as he comes to Let's pray. Oh, Father, you are amazing beyond our comprehension, beyond our words. You are great and greatly to be praised. High and lifted up. Splendor of your majesty is truly awesome. And we are so weak. Lord, you have not left us to ourselves, so please help as only you can, and may it be clear that you alone have spoken today and you have helped. Please, Lord, minister to us according to our need. In Jesus' name, amen. I had the privilege and pleasure of sitting with your elders and deacons over some food yesterday. And while it was an enjoyable time, the conversation quickly turned solemn. It became serious, and that is because I began to hear about many of the trials that you all have been going through as a church. I listened with a broken heart about the different struggles, sorrows you all have been going through. And that's just the public congregation. Then there's the individual families, marriages, children, personally. I don't have to spend hours with you to know that you have been going through trials. Children, you're not left out of this. Sometimes you can be removed from conversations, but children, you also go through hard times. You also know what it is to have your heart broken and to be sorrowful and to be sad. It's been an intense season of suffering, and back in Austin, the same is true. And then we hear about things like the Marines who lost their lives, abortionists standing outside of judges' homes plotting to kill one of them, terrorists bombing, gas prices rising, food pricing, Ridiculous problems mounting more and more and bad news is everywhere What is my point we are surrounded with pain Suffering anguish and trials and it can just seem like nothing good could possibly come from so much that I Children, do you all like fruit juice? I love juice. It's so good, not necessarily good for me. But I was in Haiti with a brother not too long ago, and I saw his mother taking passion fruit and making juice by hand. And the thing about juice is no matter what kind of fruit you're trying to get juice from, there's only one way to get it. You have to crush, squeeze, and press that fruit in order to receive the juice. And not all juice is equal. The best juice is something called cold press. Y'all ever had cold press juice? This is the steps to get it. Cold press refers to the method used to extract the juice from fruit and vegetables. A cold press juicer works by firstly crushing the produce, then pressing the fruits and vegetables in order to get the highest juice yield with the highest nutrient content. Psalm 119, 71 says, it is good for me. that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes. What is the psalmist saying here? He's saying that there's actually a benefit, a good thing about being crushed, about being pressed. Brothers and sisters, when you are crushed under the weight of severe trials and anguish, For the Christian, the sweetest juice with the highest nutrient content comes out. And what I have entitled this message today is six sweet juices from bitter suffering. Well, what are these six sweet juices that come from bitter suffering? Well, here's the first one. Assurance that you are truly a Christian. Matthew 13, you can turn there, to the parable of the sower. It's truly one of my favorite parables that Jesus taught. Matthew 13, 18, says, hear the parable of the sower. When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. Luke says, believes for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another 60, and in another 30. Now this parable, Jesus is laying out the tragic fact that not all who claim to know him actually do. Not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, was gonna go to heaven. There are false Christians. There are imposters and fakes in churches all over the world throughout history. How do you know if you are one of them? How do you know if you are false? Well, Jesus, in his kindness, gives us this parable where there are tests. He gives us three false, one true. The second soil is the one I want to focus on right now. Notice what it said here. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. And when tribulation, that is hard times, difficult times, or Persecution, that is when you are hunted down, targeted, ridiculed, mocked, maybe even tortured, prisoned, and killed on account of the word, immediately they fall away. Who are these people? It says that when the word of the kingdom is sown, that means the gospel was preached to them. They heard about their sin, and they were convicted. They heard about judgment, and they were afraid. They heard about holiness, and they were intimidated. They heard about Christ, and they were relieved. They heard about the cross, and they were broken. They cried out for mercy, forgiveness, and they cried out for salvation. And all looked good, until persecution came. tribulation came. They were fine to walk with Jesus on the mountaintops. They were fine to walk with him in the sunshine and in the palace, but when Jesus took them through the valley of the shadow of death, what happened? They got angry. Jesus led them through the darkness and into the midst of the fierce wolves, and they said, I didn't sign up for this. I'm done. I'm gone, I quit. They endure for a while. They believe for a while. That's not saving faith, but they look the part. And that while was cut short by tribulation and persecution. When times got hard, when trials came, they turned their backs on Jesus Christ. The Lord of Glory. Someone in their family dies. They reject Jesus. They lose the job that they spent their whole life trying to get. They get sick and there's no cure. They don't get the house that they wanted. They don't get the spouse that they had their eyes on. The children that they set their hearts on and they turn away from the Lord and return to the world. They have a contract with Jesus. I will follow you as long as you do not do this. I will trust you as long as you do not allow this. Does that sound like anyone in this room? Do you have a contract with the Lord? Is there something that could happen in your life where you say, I'm done? Sadly, we all know people who began Good. And where are they now? They're back in the world. Even people we would have never suspected. The brethren, what is the sweet juice that we can taste from going through tribulation and persecution? Here's this. Those of you who are truly his, those of you who are truly one of the Lord's, the same thing happened. You received the word immediately with joy, too. You heard about God's holiness, and you were also intimidated. You heard about your sin, and you were convicted. You heard about Christ, and you were relieved, and you ran to Him, and you clung to Him, and you trusted in Him. You believed in Him because He drew you to Himself. And he led you through the valley of the shadow of death as well. What's the major difference? You're still here. I don't mean here in these seats. I mean in Christ. whereas the second soil showed they were not genuine because the tribulation and persecution came and they fell away, the fourth soil also receives the sun, the persecution and tribulation, but remain, endure, thus showing the genuineness of the faith. In other words, when the smoke clears from the intense battles that you go through, you have not abandoned your master. You haven't thrown Jesus overboard as a weight because he is your most precious treasure. He is your portion. You cling to Him. Why? Because you are convinced that He is your all in all, because He has done a work in you, proving the genuineness of your faith. Why are you still loving the Lord when you've been through so many hard and terrible and heart-wrenching times? Because you are in Him, and He is in you. Here is the place for assurance. Whatever you've gone through, Have you buried loved ones? Have you wept and groaned under the agony of pain and sorrow, and yet you remain? Rejoice if you're still trusting in Jesus Christ when so many others are going away because of difficulty and persecution, and you remain. You know it's not you, it's a work of His Spirit. There is comfort. There is a sweet-tasting juice. though you go through bitter trials. This parable shows us the false convert proved to be false because when the trials came, they rejected him, they forsook him, they deserted him. So if you remain steadfast in the face of trials, what does that say about your faith? 1 Peter 1.6, in this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested, genuineness, tested. If your faith is not tested, then it's not shown to be genuine. And if your faith has been tested, as every believer's faith has been, what is it tested with? Trials. The tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know your faith is genuine when it gets tested. And what does it get tested by? Various trials, various tribulations, various difficulties. Assurance here is comfort Taste the sweet juice of assurance that comes from being crushed under the knee the rock of tribulation and persecution And yet you remain What is the second juice they build spiritual muscles James 1 Verse 2 and 4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. What is steadfastness? You don't move. You stand firm. There's a strength that comes, a strength that comes that is produced through these trials. Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Think of sports. Think of athletes. I don't know how many of you like to play basketball. I'm not very good at it. But if you pick up a basketball, you're not going to play like Michael Jordan the first day, are you? It would be ridiculous. You're not going to play like the professionals the first time you begin. What do you have to do? Practice. You have to practice. My son, he wants to join the Army Rangers. He wants to go to West Point. And so he has been running. And I told him, well, you can't go out there the first day and run 15 miles. If you do that, what's going to happen? You're going to be huffing and puffing, falling on the ground, needing an inhaler, though you don't need one. Because you have to build up endurance. And that's happening by day by day, building up more and more, going through this practice. Well, when you go through various trials, the same thing happens. We're told that something is being produced when you meet these trials of various kinds. How can you count it all joy? There's nothing joyful about being hungry. or sick or planning a funeral. There's nothing joyful about being so cold you need layers of clothing. The pain is not joyful, but the fact that God is with you and you are growing in your steadfastness and the genuineness of your faith is being proven and you know more and more you're walking with him. There is a place for joy. The steadfastness, again, when all the world around you is sinking and shifting and moving, and names that were once so trusted, now they are falling away. And yet you remain. There's comfort. There's joy. Because there's a confidence there, knowing that God is working and has done a work in you. The fact that you are being kept by him, is a reason to rejoice. I mean, think about it. You're running closer to Him. You're drawing near to Him. You're seeing your need all the more for Him through these trials, aren't you? Steadfastness. I was talking to some of your older brethren And I am so encouraged when I see brothers and sisters who have walked with the Lord for decades. I see that white hair, not just physically, but spiritually. They have been with the Lord for many years. They know what it is to go through many, many, many trials. And what do they do? You look back and say, he has been faithful. Great is thy faithfulness. He was faithful 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago. He's never failed me. So today, I can stand firm. Tomorrow, I can have hope and trust because these spiritual muscles of steadfastness have been built only by going through various trials. That tastes sweet. Everything else is bitter. Acts 14, 21, when you had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples. Now, what did they use to strengthen the souls of the disciples? Encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. What a strange thing to encourage someone with, and yet, in light of what we're hearing and what we see in the Word, that makes absolute sense. This is very encouraging, and this is strengthening. You see all the victories He's brought you out of. Can you remember? You go back to the day when you first believed, and things you thought you could never overcome, and you see Him You see the pain and the tear-drenched pillows of your yesteryears, and you say, I thought I would never be able to get over that. But He was with you. He brought you through. He helped you. And now when you go through a trial today, you say, you know what? I would have crumbled back then, but today I can stand. He's been there through it all. He's loved you and kept you through it all and that produces steadfastness. You can suffer well today because he's been faithful to you yesterday. And you know it's not your grip on him, it's his grip on you. You don't hope in your ability to hold on to him, do you? No, but you cling to the promise that he will never leave you and he will never forsake you. John 10, 28, I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. There you are, Christian, in the hand of Christ, and Christ's hand is in the hand of the Father. And first John ends with, the enemy will not touch them. You can't get through those hands and you're being held. There is strength. He's holding you as we sing. When I fear my faith will fall, Christ will hold me fast. When the tempter would prevail, he will hold me fast. I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path, for my love is often cold. He must hold me fast. Are you going through great troubles even now? Same Lord who brought you through the last trial is with you in this one. Hasn't he proven that he is faithful? Cling to that and go forward. Romans 5, two, through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Which leads us into the third sweet juice from bitter suffering. They make you more like Christ. Romans 8, 26. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we are, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called, according to his purpose, for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified. Have you ever had pain so intense that all came out were groans too deep for words? You don't know what to pray. You don't know how to pray. The only thing that comes out are groans. You've been in such a place of sorrow that only sighs and wails come out. Let's remember the early church to whom this book of Romans was written to, how they were attacked by the Jewish leaders violently. We know that because Paul dedicated his life to violently hunting down Christians and dragging them off to prison, seeing that they would be put to death. The Roman Empire was putting the full force of the government against the Christians. cutting out their tongues to keep them from singing, hanging them on crosses, covering them in tar and heat like this so that during the day they would be in intense suffering and then at night he would light them on fire so that they could be lamps in his garden. They were thrown to wild beasts for fun and entertainment. What kind of sorrow did the early church endure? They were going through great suffering, and what did the Spirit of God move the Apostle Paul to write to them? That all things are working together for their good because they love God and they're called, and this is doing something even more good than giving you a good attitude. It's conforming you to the image of Christ. It's making you more like Jesus, which is your number one prayer request, isn't it? I mean, Christian, isn't this what you pray for more than anything else? Lord, make me like you. Make me like your son. Please, I wanna be like Jesus. I wanna be like Jesus. Whatever you do, anything you need to, just make me like Jesus. Remember praying that? And then he sends you the trials. Then he sends you the suffering. Then he sends you the severe tribulation. Throughout history, many artists have created great works of art, and they use all kinds of medium. And then you have the sculptor. The sculptor begins with just a block of marble or stone. And what do they do? They take a big hammer, and they begin to bang that stone until it falls away. Things that they don't want there. The weight of those blows coming down and they want that piece gone and that piece gone because they have something in their mind they want this block to eventually look like. And then they take the chisel and they began to hammer it and hammer it and then they take other things and began to sand it and sand it and this big chunk of stone slowly but surely through this hard and rough and stone-flying process begins to look like a sculpture of art. May I submit to you that is exactly what our Lord is doing to every single child of His. He wants you to look like Christ. And so He brings the hammer providence and the chisel of your unique trial and begins to hammer away so that that which is not like Christ begins to fly off. He bangs off that selfishness because Jesus isn't selfish. He bangs more and more of that pride away because Jesus is truly humble. He's conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ through what you suffer. More than Michelangelo, the greatest artist of all time is shaping and cutting and molding and breaking away unwanted flesh and sin from your life through what you suffer so that you look like your Lord. Think about this last week. What trial did you go through? Was it something that made you angry, with sinful anger? And then what happens? You're convicted. You cry out to the Lord, Father, forgive me for this sinful anger. There it is. The trial exposed the sin, the hammer and the chisel come down, repentance. There is more of that malice and anger and sinful wrath. being removed, being put away, and what is left is this humble, gentle, kinder response, which is more like Jesus. Were you anxious? And then your heart was broken because you realized, my anxiety is showing, I don't I want to trust you as much as I say I do, and as much as I want to, and he breaks your heart with that, and you see, I want to trust you more. Why? Because Jesus trusted his Father perfectly. Or as you suffered this week, this month, You realize this world is cursed. This world is not my home. I long for heaven and home. My hope is in heaven where Christ is seated. I want to be with him. Truly the heart of Jesus. He saw this world for what it was and he didn't set up a palace here. This was a tent. He knew that he was just passing through. And sometimes, brothers and sisters, isn't it true that we do strange things like bring moving trucks to hotels? We're just staying the night. This isn't our home. Why are we bringing a moving truck? This is not our home. But sometimes we forget this is not our home. And the Lord reminds us and gives us this appetite and these taste buds for eternity. Each trial is the chisel coming down. If you trust God more, it's because he's used the chisel on you. If you love the word more, if you cling closer to Jesus, if you're more faithful, more content, more selfless, there was a trial or two or 10 that he used to break off that which is unlike Jesus. Number four, you are able to help others. Colossians 1 24 now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I'm filling up what is lacking in Christ's affliction for the sake of his body that is the church Paul said For your sake the sufferings that Paul was going through and where was Paul when he wrote Colossian? He was in prison He wasn't in a prison like America's prisons we take great care of our prisoners and No, he was in a Roman dungeon. He was going through great and intense suffering, and yet he said, what I am suffering is for your sake. Andrew Bonar said, we have got more from Paul's prison house than from his visit to the third heavens. Isn't that true? What were the sufferings of Paul? 2 Corinthians 11, 23. You've heard this. I am talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes, less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I was adrift at sea. frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship through many a sleepless night, and hunger and thirst often without food, and cold and extreme the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Paul was in the firmness of affliction, and through the midst of all that he suffered, out came sweet juice for the saints to drink. As you are beat and pummeled and weighed down, isn't it true, Christian, that you look up more? I heard a brother say yesterday, I pray far more when I am going through trials than I do when I'm going through easy times. Isn't that true in your own life? Don't you cry out to the Lord more? Suffering for your sake. As you think about your own conversion, somebody prayed for you, somebody wept for you, Somebody labored with the gospel for years, perhaps, for your soul. It was for your sake. Someone else preached the gospel, studied the word, endured mockery and persecution to bring the gospel to you and you benefited. Think of the Bibles that we hold. How do we get them? Somebody died. I mean, it's been said, The pages of our Bibles are soaked with the blood of those who got it to us. We are Reformed Baptists. We know the story of the Reformation. We know of the trials of the Catholic Church and how they hunted down those who translated the word into the common tongue so that we could know the God who made us in the gospel. It was for our sake they suffered. As one commentator remarked, the sweat and labor of translators and the effort of teachers to make it plain and clear, never read the scriptures without, never read the scriptures without remembering that someone has died to make it possible their sufferings were for your sake. The Reformation, the creed, the confessions, we can just grab them off the shelf very easily, but somebody sweat and bled and died to get that to us. I love Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan. What was the cold press that produced that sweet juice? And you read in his biography, grace abounding to the chief of sinners and how he was constantly tormented by the devil so much so that he would put his hands over his ears and try to keep it out. And you see that in the book when he's going through the valley of the shadow of death. This is a sweet hymns that we sing. You go back and you look at what were the circumstances that produced these lyrics. Amazing Grace, the most popular hymn ever sung, known. And there he is, John Newton, going through the intense suffering and all the trials and being on the slave ship and being sold into slavery himself. And then he comes to the place where he can bring out this sweet juice He suffered for our sake. Brothers and sisters, what are you going through right now? Have you ever thought that the trial you're in is for the sake of someone else? Isn't it true that you talk to people and you can say, wow, I went through that same thing. Let me help you. My family suffered that. Let me help you. Some of you sisters have gone through miscarriages in the alongside her, put your arm around her and guide her. Some of you have lost family members, buried children. You have gone through such suffering, betrayal, mockery, hurt. You have gone through and now you can come alongside other believers and help them because you have suffered. It's not meaningless. It's not empty. It's to help others. I know we tend to become self-pitying and we go through hardships. Brothers and sisters, think of how what you endure can help someone else who's suffering right now. They may be in this room in need of what you have gone through, and they're just waiting for someone to ask, how are you doing? And you have so much help because he's brought you through the furnace of affliction and that same thing. It was Spurgeon. Prince of preachers who said, I am afraid that all the grace that I have got out of my comfortable and easy times and happy hours might almost lie on a penny. But the good that I have received from my sorrows and pains and griefs is altogether incalculable. What do I not owe to the crucible and the furnace, the bellows that have blown upon the coals, and the hand which had thrust me into the heat? I am sure I have derived more real benefit and permanent strength and growth and grace and every precious thing from the furnace of affliction than I ever have derived from prosperity. Lloyd-Jones said, trials and tribulations are very good for us in that they help us to know ourselves better than we knew ourselves before. Fifthly, you share in Christ's suffering. 1 Peter 4.12, beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you. as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad that his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. One of the most difficult things about trials is you feel like you're going through it alone. I feel like people don't understand. But when you read in Matthew 25, and Jesus begins to separate the sheep and the goat, he says something very interesting. He will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger, and welcome you, or naked, and clothe you? And when did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you? And the king will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me. What was Paul told on the road to Damascus? Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? There is a union. of the believer with Christ, that when you suffer, he says, I'm suffering there too. When you're being persecuted, I'm being persecuted. When you're thirsty and someone gives you something to drink, I was thirsty there and they gave me something to drink. There is a union in the suffering of Christ, both when you suffer and when you engage in the suffering with him in mind. The fact is you're never alone. Again, I don't know what it is that you're facing or what you're going to face, but G. Campbell Morgan said, do not miss the blessedness of the fact that the fellowship of his sufferings mean that he has fellowship with us. When I enter into the fellowship of his sufferings, I am not alone, for he is forever with me. I can endure no pain for him that he does not share with me. When I stand in the presence of sin and suffer, if I have climbed high enough in that moment, he is with me. He is feeling the same pain, he is suffering with me. When my heart is moved with hot anger because God has misunderstood, he is suffering with me. My fellowship with him means a fellowship with me. When you're hated for Christ's name, they are hating him as much as they are hating you. You are in union. And lastly, Christ is near you when you suffer. Psalm 34, 17. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Brothers and sisters, have you considered that? He's near you. Our God's omnipotent, right? He's everywhere. But there is a way in which when you are going through the difficulties, He is closer to you. Here we see Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, they're Babylonian names. They're put into the furnace. The furnace heat is increased, and when the heat was increased, who was seen? There's Christ. Wasn't he always there? When was he made more visible? It was when the heat increased, when the pain increased. And brothers and sisters, we are promised that he is near to the brokenhearted. Psalm 56, eight, you have kept count of my tossings, put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book? Take comfort and rejoice, be at peace. Not that it doesn't hurt, because it does. When you're betrayed, you will have gone through so much. Things that are heartbreaking and tear-inducing. Job did shave his head and weep. There is something sweet, even in the midst of all that bitterness, He's with you. He's close to you. He knows, He sees, He cares for you. And you can cry out to Him. And we do cry out to Him in a way, we just don't when we're going through times of leisure and comfort. The last thing I'll say to you, brothers and sisters, remember that Christ himself was a suffering servant. Look on his example, he knows what it is to suffer. Isaiah 53, behold, verse 10, 52, 13, behold, my servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up and shall be exalted as many were astonished at you. His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind, so shall he sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they had not heard they understand. Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised. Have you been despised? He was rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised smitten by God and afflicted, but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Christ is a suffering servant, and a sympathetic high priest who knows very well what it is to suffer. So cry out to Him, look to Him, remember the cross, the greatest display of suffering that has ever taken place on this earth. you are going through your intense trial, remember that you have a Savior who knows what it is to suffer, and who suffered for your sake, and who will be with you through it all, and is making you more like Him in the midst of it, and is growing your spiritual muscles, and is giving you an assurance that your faith, though tested, is genuine, And ultimately, He draws near to you and brings you close to Him as you suffer. I pray that that juice would be sweet, though the suffering be bitter. Father, thank You for Your Word. I pray that Your people would be helped and encouraged. In Jesus' name, Amen.