The Light in Affliction
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Mountain climbers could save time and energy if they reached the summit in a helicopter, but their ultimate purpose is conquest, not efficiency. Sure, they want to reach a goal, but they desire to do it by testing and deepening their character, discipline, and resolve.
God could create scientists, mathematicians, athletes, and musicians. He doesn’t. He creates children who take on those roles over a long process. God doesn’t make us fully Christlike the moment we’re born again. He conforms us to the image of Christ gradually: “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory”.
In our spiritual lives, as in our professional lives, and in sports and hobbies, we improve and excel by handling failure and learning from it. Only in cultivating discipline, endurance, and patience do we find satisfaction and reward. And those qualities are most developed through some form of suffering.
I remember there was a time period where I tried to do some rock climbing. What many people do not understand is the amount of time it takes to even get to the place where you are conditioned enough to climb. We went to the gym for my first day. I climbed to the top on the easy color the first time. The second time barely. the third time… i couldn’t feel my fingers anymore. You gotta train hard to climb a mountain. I had to do pull ups with my fingers. Thousands of squats and lunges. In other words… lots and lots of suffering, just to start an easy mountain.
Many times in our culture today, we look for the easy way. The magic pill way. The weekend seminar way. The better easier and fast way. The surprising thing I find in the church is the amount of professing Christians who are surprised by the long, difficult, and painful road that is being transformed into the likeness of Christ. Christianity is like playing the guitar… you gotta get conditioned before you can even play a song. There is no pill, its not overnight, its not just a weekend… As Christians were not promised a life free of difficulty and pain. IN actuality these tings are required for us to be into the image of the Son of God. God wants us to be mature, complete and not lacking in anything. Yes Shane thats what I want… Do you know what the Bible says about how we get that to happen?
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Christianity is a process. The Lord did not intend for us to be given the gift of repentance, the gift of faith, and a new heart and boom we are there. The sons and daughters of God are fashioned.
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.
We are both being and becoming Children of the living God more and more transformed into the image of the Son of God. But why sin, why evil, why hardship, why attacks, why hostility, why suffering, why pain, why contention, why tribulation, why persecution, why don’t you just take them away. Why indeed. Im gonna share with you a secret to this…
So the Lord burned with anger against Israel. He said, “Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands, I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.” That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all.
These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle. These are the nations: the Philistines (those living under the five Philistine rulers), all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the mountains of Lebanon from Mount Baal-hermon to Lebo-hamath. These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses.
So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and they intermarried with them. Israelite sons married their daughters, and Israelite daughters were given in marriage to their sons. And the Israelites served their gods.
It is all here to teach and test us. The wonders of the plan of God for his people, His covenant, and His glory. This is why we suffer. This is why we endure. This is why we are to persevere even under sever suffering. We must go to God. Even though thats the last thing many of us want to do when we experience severe suffering. Its what our psalmist did. Lets check it out.
I have suffered much, O Lord;
restore my life again as you promised.
Lord, accept my offering of praise,
and teach me your regulations.
My life constantly hangs in the balance,
but I will not stop obeying your instructions.
The wicked have set their traps for me,
but I will not turn from your commandments.
Your laws are my treasure;
they are my heart’s delight.
I am determined to keep your decrees
to the very end.
The grass withers the flower but the Word of our God stands forever.
1. Go to God
2. The Delight of the Gospel
The first thing we will look at today is how when in severe suffering our tendency is to run from God, but we should run to Him. Second, we will see the truth of the Gospel and how it is essential for everything.
Thesis: Though sin and the pattern of this world urge and tempt us with conforming to it, it is the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the scriptures that will show us the true beauty of suffering, the glory of God, the gospel and the wonderful joy that we have in Christ and in Christ alone.
I. Go to God
- Run to God and don’t look back when suffering.
A. And our psalmist today illustrates a very important thing when it comes to suffering. And not just any suffering, but severe suffering. The picture of this was a time of great anguish for our Psalmist possibly life-threatening. For him inspired by God does not turn to inward pity, woe is me, feeling sorry for himself, or even complaining. He turns to the Lord in praise. We hear it. We think we believe it. We nod our heads when it is preached. But when severe suffering comes, we turn from God. Maybe not outwardly, but definitely in our hearts.
B. For over 30 years of pastoral ministry now. It is by far the biggest reason why people turn away from the church, from the Lord, from the living God. Suffering… sometimes not even severe suffering. And in the end it is always … God left me, God abandoned me, God has forsaken me. He turn his back on me so now I turn my back on Him. I did so much for him and this is how he repays me? I sacrificed so much for Him and this is how he repays me? I devoted my heart to Him and this is how He repays me? He turned on me so I’m gonna turn on Him. And then they walk away.
C. But our psalmist says that we are not to do this. We are to go to the Lord. We go to Him for restoration. The Lord promised to restore us.
In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.
D. Where else do we get this promise. Who else could actually fulfill a promise like this. Sure the world promises. Sure money promises. Sure success promises. Sure popularity promises. But can they deliver? So many on the pursuit for all of this and for many when they get it, it does not help. It does not bring restoration. Most all people that I know that has accomplished this, tell me it doesn’t change. One very wealthy friend tells me that the richer he got the more his problems and worries increased. Only the Lord can truly restore us.
E. If you got the Lord and He restores us. We can have no money. We can have no success. We can have no popularity. We can have no accolades. We can have no value from the world. We can have love from the World. We can have nothing in life and we can still say that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Still I will say blessed be the name of the Lord. Though he slay me… yet will I praise Him.
F. But we gotta realize that the suffering we receive only makes us stronger and glorifies the Lord more and more. Suffering and tribulation teaches us to follow the Lord. Suffering makes us grow and be conformed more and more into the likeness of Christ. If you are a Christian, you are gonna suffer and many of us will suffer greatly for the Lord. But in the end we will be more mature, complete, and not lacking in anything. But maybe we don’t believe it. Maybe we don’t think the Lord has our best interest in mind. Maybe he really does not love us.
II. Delight of the Gospel
- The good news that Christ is our everything.
A. In sin we do not understand the point of our suffering and do not understand the point of our walk with Christ. The philosophy of this world has penetrated the church and we are moving in a direction that is not perscribed by the Lord in the scriptures. It is my prayer that we do not follow the ways and pattern of this world and every day I see modern evangelicalism doing that very thing. I am told by many in our own convention. Shane theology and doctrinie is not what the church needs right now. Stop preaching the way you are preaching. They need sermons that help them through their everyday lives. Jesus is nothing to them if you don;t show them how useful he is and how useful the Bible is to give them a good life.
B. This is not Biblical. It is the philosophy of this world. Its called pragmatism. The great minds in history realized that answering the difficult questions in life was not gonna happen with rationalism (Which was found to be unreliable) and Empiricism (Which was found to be prey to skepticism). So they just said you know what… lets stop wasting our lives chasing these problems and live our lives the best we can. And let’s make our lives successful and prosperous. America is the birthplace of modern pragmatism. Morality, purpose, science, logic, are all there to bring the most successful in accomplishing its purpose. The good life.
C. This has come into the church. Lets not ponder the deep things of theology and doctrine. Stop wasting time with it. How can God and the Bible show us and give us the principles of the good life. Jesus says to teach his disciples everything. Paul desires for us to experience the depths of the Love of God. The author of the Hebrews desire us to progress father than the milk. We are to tear down arguments and defend the and contend for the faith. We are to love God with all of our minds. And now we abandon all of that to give us the principles of the good life. Shane give us what is helpful for the good things in life. This is why many in the church today get more info for their sermons by life coaching books and self help business entrepreneurs. What do these guys know about what to be proclaimed from the pulpit of the living God? Nothing. Because the purpose of our lives as Christians is to reap the benefits of the wonderful and generous God. It does not matter anymore what is true, what matters is what helps make my life better. Being made in the image of God does not consist of the good things in life. Being conformed to the image of the Son does not consist of pragmatic principles.
D. So that is why it easily explains why people walk away from Christ when there is suffering. He promised the good life. Our best life now. I’m not living it. Not working out for me. So they eject. They leave the church. Christianity does not work to give me a better life. Thats what God is supposed to do.
E. When engaging with unbelievers in the marketplace it is always brought up all that truth preaching on doctrine and deep things is why so many are leaving the church. They don’t want to hear that stuff. They don’t want difficulty. They don’t want the deep things. That’s why people are leaving the church today. Well if you knew doctrine and theology you would know why Christians are really leaving the church. Because they were never Christians in the first place. And men love the darkness instead of the light because their deeds were evil. We love all those things that bring darkness into the world. We want the easy way and we want the easy way to worldly treasures. We want the good life, but what we need is life.
F. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is no one on earth who always does good and never sins. There is no one righteous no not one. We are all by nature children of wrath. And the wages of sin is death. The wrath of God is being poured out on all humanity. Outer darkness. Eternal fire. Weeping and gnashing of teeth. Can we be saved from this?
G. Jesus died for our sins according to the scriptures and he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. He came into this world to seek and to save that which was lost. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners. He became sin who knew no sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
H. All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. All of this is written so that you believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God and that by believing you will have life in His name.
I. All of this comes from the Word of God that is desired by the psalmist. More valuable that millions in gold and silver. Especially in times of suffering, our tendency is to walk away, but we should run to the Lord and do not look back.
