Epistles: Suffering

Introduction:

We have 3 weeks left through our series through the Bible

And now we are looking at the Epistles—the letters written in the NT

And we are looking at some of the main themes in these letters

Last week we looked at unity

And how division and disunity was and still is one of the greatest problems facing the church

But today we are going to be looking at one important theme of these letters that cannot be ignored: Suffering

Scripture Reading:

2 Corinthians 1:3–11 (CSB)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.

We don’t want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, of our affliction that took place in Asia. We were completely overwhelmed—beyond our strength—so that we even despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, so that we would not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a terrible death, and he will deliver us. We have put our hope in him that he will deliver us again while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gift that came to us through the prayers of many.

Introduction

Suffering is one of the hardest topics to teach on

Because it’s more than just an intellectual concept

It is a painful reality that we all experience

It is unavoidable

No matter what part of the world you live in

No matter how much money you make

No matter how morally good you are

Everyone faces suffering

My favorite Christian author, C.S. Lewis wrote 2 books on suffering

The first one, The Problem of Pain, he was commissioned to write—and he tackles it on an intellectual level

Why suffering necessary…How we reconcile suffering with a good God…

But in his second book on suffering, A Grief Observed, he writes after he lost his wife

And it shows his inner struggle with sorrow and pain

It’s one thing to know about it up here

But its so much harder when you are in the middle of it

And as we talk about suffering today it will mostly be on this intellectual level

We’ll be going into what God’s word has to say about it (particularly in the Epistles)

But if you are here today and suffering, it’s not intended to be a band-aid that will make everything okay—and that's okay

My main goal is not to fix the problems you are going through

But I hope to offer a new perspective on suffering

That instead of something that we see to be avoided at all costs, it would be something we would embrace

Our Culture’s View on Suffering

You see, our culture has a pretty unique view on suffering compared to people in the past

Before, suffering was a reality—it was something we had to live with

Think before modern medicine and medical practices

People were sick more often—People died more often

People had many children because the assumption was that not all of them would make it

Think before our modern ideas of nations and politics

If another group wanted your stuff, they could take it from you

War and battle were always a possibility

Think before our modern ways of food production and farming

Famine could always be around the corner

If there was particularly bad weather one year, if locust came

You might be hungry for very long periods of time without anything to do about it

And I mention these things because this was reality for people

It’s not a question of whether or not you would suffer—it was acknowledged as a part of life

And today we stand after a great amount of progress to make our lives easier and reduce the suffering we face

And this is great!

It’s amazing that we have medicine and medical practices to save lives

(John Chubik 94 y/o friend)

Its amazing that we can live in relative peace without fear

Its fantastic that we have reliable means to produce food

I’m not saying that any of this is bad

But one of the outcomes of this, is that we have become so comforted and protected, that we have forgot what it means to live in a world of suffering

Many of us are living in an illusion—that it is possible for our lives to be free of suffering

And because suffering is inevitable, when it does come—it shatters our view of everything

We question ourselves—Did I do something wrong?

We question God—Why would you do this?

And the Bible presents us with a world and people that knew suffering—they did not believe the lie that if they did everything right there would be no problems in life

We find people that knew how to live with suffering:

And it’s not easy, and its not desirable (they aren't sadists), but they embrace it

Joseph

David

Job

Jeremiah

Jesus

Suffering from the OT to the NT

Shortly after the Bible opens we are aware of suffering in this world

Genesis 3—The Fall

This is why the world is the way it is

Human sin/rebellion

And throughout the OT—there is suffering—especially among God’s people

And they cry out to God—the Psalms are filled with these prayers

And we know that God’s heart breaks over the state of creation

Over the suffering of his people

But something changes when we reach the NT

God himself enters this world

That Jesus, comes into this broken world

Not as a heavenly angel—immune to pain and suffering

But as a human—prone to sickness and disease

He is born into a poor family—identifying with the suffering of the needy

That God himself—enters into the suffering of humanity

And we know the Gospel story

Not only does Jesus enter into this world

But he truly suffers for our sake

He faces rejection and ridicule from his family and from religious leaders

He faces death threats

He faces hunger

He experiences rejection and betrayal from his close friends

He experiences public humiliation and torture

He suffers the most gruesome and terrible way to die—crucifixion

He did not come to pursue comfortability and ease

But as Jesus says in the Gospel of Mark:

(SLIDES)

Mark 10:45 (CSB)

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

And as followers of Jesus today—we are to adopt the same mindset as Jesus

On his last night—before his crucifixion—He had this to say to his disciples:

(SLIDES)

John 16:33 (CSB)

I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Promise of Jesus

And as the Scriptures continue we see the same is true for those who would follow Jesus

Acts is full of trials and sufferings

Paul faces physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering

And out of that suffering—Paul, and others, wrote the epistles

And one of the major themes in the epistles is suffering

How we are to view it and live with it, in the light of the gospel

Remember our quote from last week:

(SLIDES)

“In Acts, we read about Paul; in his Epistles, we hear from Paul directly. Conversely, in the Gospels, we hear from Jesus directly; in the Epistles, we hear about the ramifications of Jesus’s work for believers.”

Suffering in the Epistles

I don’t want to oversimplify the topic of suffering in the epistles, but I do want to talk about two purposes of suffering that we find in these letters

For the Building of Our Character

In order to experience “the fellowship of Jesus’s sufferings”

(SLIDE)

The Building of Our Character

The Epistles are clear that one of the purposes of suffering in our lives is to build our character

Lets read what Peter and James have to say about this:

(SLIDE)

1 Peter 1:5–7 (CSB)

You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

(SLIDE)

James 1:2–4 (CSB)

Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature [perfect] and complete, lacking nothing.

As Christians, one of our primary aims is to grow in our Christlikeness

We want to become more like Jesus

We want to be compassionate, understanding, patient, loving, forgiving, just, righteous

And part of what it means to grow in Christlikeness is growing in our capacity to suffer—and learning to suffer well

Jesus wasn’t someone who squirmed under suffering—looking for a way of escape or complaining to those around him

He knew how to suffer well

And the reason behind this was because He saw a purpose to his suffering

Suffering without a purpose is unbearable—suffering with a purpose is strengthening

Gym-Analogy

In the case of Jesus’ motivation the Author of Hebrews has this to say:

(SLIDES)

Hebrews 12:1–2 (CSB)

Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus’s hope was the joy that lay before him

And Paul says:

(SLIDES)

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (CSB)

Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Even if it doesn’t seem to make sense in the moment—God is working through your suffering to make you more like Jesus

That we’d have less of our focus on this world—and more of it on the heavenly reality to come

That faith isn’t just a belief but a reality

The Fellowship of his Sufferings

Secondly, our trials and struggles teach us what Paul calls “the fellowship of his sufferings” in Philippians 3:

(SLIDES)

Philippians 3:7–11 (CSB)

But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.

This is so important that Paul refers to this as one of his goals in life

But what does he mean by this?

What is the fellowship of his sufferings?

In short, it is knowing God in a deeper way through our hardships

It’s knowing that even though things are painful or falling apart, that God is with you

And with this fellowship comes a deep peace and comfort

We see this in the life of Job:

(SLIDES)

Job 42:1–6 (CSB)

Then Job replied to the Lord:

I know that you can do anything

and no plan of yours can be thwarted.

You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?”

Surely I spoke about things I did not understand,

things too wondrous for me to know.

You said, “Listen now, and I will speak.

When I question you, you will inform me.”

I had heard reports about you,

but now my eyes have seen you.

Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them;

I am dust and ashes.

Suffering is unavoidable—and leads us to God

(SLIDES)

C.S. Lewis:

“We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

And what is God trying to speak?

His comfort

He understands—He has suffered

As Paul says to the Corinthians:

(SLIDES)

2 Corinthians 1:3–7 (CSB)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.

This fellowship:

It is to both share in the sufferings and the comforts of Christ

Conclusion

And these two truths don’t take away the suffering we face in life, but I hope that they can provide some perspective on suffering

The reality is you are either suffering now, just getting out of a season of suffering, or about to enter one

How we engage with and think about our suffering affects our who we are and the Epistles (and the entire Bible) is teaching us how to use suffering as a tool to draw near to God and become more like Him

I don’t want you all to forget that our God knows what it means to suffer—and he’s with you

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdenego—Furnace

(SLIDES)

John Stott:

“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as 'God on the cross.' In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in Godforsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross that symbolizes divine suffering.”

In closing, I want to read a portion of one of my favorite Psalms—that many of you know

(SLIDES)

Psalm 23:1–4 (CSB)

The Lord is my shepherd;

I have what I need.

He lets me lie down in green pastures;

he leads me beside quiet waters.

He renews my life;

he leads me along the right paths

for his name’s sake.

Even when I go through the darkest valley,

I fear no danger,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff—they comfort me.

Life is scary… but God is with us… Shepherding us

God is with you in the darkest of valleys