Strength in the Storm part 2 2018

John 16:33 NLT

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Job 5:7 NLT

People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.

Strength for the Storm part 2

Why do bad things happen?

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People are born for trouble as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.

{BAD DAY PICS}

If anyone has ever become a Christian because they thought that life would just simply be easier they have been left extremely disappointed. I don’t think I could honestly say that bad stuff has stopped happening to me, or the people I know.

Most of us have experienced broken relationships. Business deal gone bad. Stint of unemployment. Ends not being met. Of coarse there are much more trouble that is grievous in nature or even atrocious. Loss of child. Child goes to prison. A close family member comes out as gay. Unfaithfulness in marriage. Incurable life threatening disease. It leaves us asking, “Why God, Why?”

No one is immune. In one form or another trouble comes to every one of us. Do what you will, you cannot avoid it. You may minimize your risks, but there is no escaping it. You can spend money, time, and energy to keep bad things happening at bay, but in the end discover there is no way to avoid it.

Four questions that we ask our selves when the storm hits:

1. Why do bad things happen to good people?

2. Why did it happen to me?

3. Why didn’t God do something?

4. Why didn’t He answer my prayers?

Last week point number one was “Having an realization that storms are inevitable.”

Tonight our first point is

I. The why questions are inevitable!

Most of us mistakenly believe that we will be able to cope with personal tragedy if we can just make some sense of it.

Ken told me something last week. A quote he had heard. It is ok to ask questions, but it is not ok to question God!

There often seems to be little or no explanation for many of the tragedies that befall us, making the why question nothing more than an exercise in futility. Like a dog chasing his tail, we find ourselves going in circles.

Some people start believing that the storms that befall them are punishment for personal sin.

There is biblical precedence for bad things happening when we sin.

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5 But there was a certain man named Ananias who, with his wife, Sapphira, sold some property. 2 He brought part of the money to the apostles, claiming it was the full amount. With his wife’s consent, he kept the rest.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, why have you let Satan fill your heart? You lied to the Holy Spirit, and you kept some of the money for yourself. 4 The property was yours to sell or not sell, as you wished. And after selling it, the money was also yours to give away. How could you do a thing like this? You weren’t lying to us but to God!”

5 As soon as Ananias heard these words, he fell to the floor and died. Everyone who heard about it was terrified. 6 Then some young men got up, wrapped him in a sheet, and took him out and buried him.

7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Was this the price you and your husband received for your land?”

“Yes,” she replied, “that was the price.”

9 And Peter said, “How could the two of you even think of conspiring to test the Spirit of the Lord like this? The young men who buried your husband are just outside the door, and they will carry you out, too.”

10 Instantly, she fell to the floor and died. When the young men came in and saw that she was dead, they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear gripped the entire church and everyone else who heard what had happened.

This is not the rule of thumb under normal circumstance. This is a biblical example of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit!

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And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

Oswald Chambers: "Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses the conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God."

Jesus did address the issue on at least two occasions. Once was when He and His disciples encountered a man who was blind from birth and discussing a fatal construction accident in Siloam.

The disciples assumed a man born blind because either he or his parents sinned.

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As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?”

Let’s add a little logic to this question?

How can a baby have personal sin in the womb? If blindness or sickness was a result of personal sin we would all be blind or sick! Is there anyone who hasn’t sinned?

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3 “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered.

The key to breaking the bondage that our personal sin is the cause of bad things happening is understanding the difference between personal sin and sin of the world.

The official theological terminology is "original sin" and "imputed sin” that refer to the two main effects that Adam's sin had on the human race.

First, as a result of Adam's sin we all enter the world with a fallen nature. This is original sin--the sinful tendencies, desires, and dispositions in our hearts with which we are all born. Thus, original sin is something inherent in us--it is a morally ruined character. The original sin that we are all born with manifests itself throughout our lives in actual sins--the actions, thoughts, and feelings we have that violate God's moral commands. So our sinful hearts (original sin) cause us to make sinful choices, think sinful thoughts, and feel sinful feelings (actual sins). We are not sinners because we sin; rather, we sin because we are sinners. We are all born totally imprisoned in original sin. There is no island of goodness left in us.

Second, the guilt of Adam's sin is credited not just to Adam himself, but to us all. We are regarded as having sinned in Adam, and hence as deserving of the same punishment. This is imputed sin. Thus, we not only receive polluted and sinful natures because of Adam's sin (original sin), but we are also regarded as having sinned in Adam such that we are guilty of his act as well (imputed sin). Imputed sin is the ruin of our standing before God and is thus not an internal quality but an objective reckoning of guilt, whereas original sin is the ruin of our character and thus is a reference to internal qualities. Both original sin and imputed sin place us under the judgment of God.

Since the consequences of Adam's sin are twofold (original sin and imputed sin), the remedy of our salvation is also twofold. John Piper writes:

So we have seen two things that need a remedy. One is our sinful nature that enslaves us to sin, and the other is our original guilt and condemnation that is rooted not first in our individual sinning but in our connection with Adam in his sin. The book of Romans—indeed the whole Bible— is the story of how God has worked in history to remedy these two problems. The problem of our condemnation in Adam God remedies through justification in Christ. The problem of our corruption and depravity he remedies through sanctification by the Spirit. Or to put it another way: The problem of our legal guilt and condemnation before God is solved by his reckoning to us the righteousness Christ; and the problem of our moral defilement and habitual sinning is solved by his purifying us by the work of Spirit. The first remedy, justification, comes by imputed righteousness. The other, sanctification, comes by imparted righteousness. Justification is instantaneous; sanctification is progressive.

Jesus continues in verse 3…“This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.

Jesus focus was not why! Jesus’ focus was to turn our attention to what God is going to do about it! he is going to restore the man’s sight, thus manifest the works of God in him.

When it comes to the storms of life, things are generally far more complicated than mere cause and effect.

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13 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were offering sacrifices at the Temple. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen people who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”

Jesus does not tell us why these particular individuals died while others equally sinful were allowed to live. What is makes clear is that the reason for their deaths was not because of a particular sin.

vs. 3 Not at all!

vs. 4 Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No

Trouble comes our way because of imputed sin. We as believers have to contend with storms just like every one else because we are members of the fallen race living on a planet in rebellion.

There will be a day that Jesus puts all enemies under His feet.

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After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. 25 For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet. 26 And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.

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Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[j] including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope[k] for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Some people start believing that the storms that befall them is the will of God.

In other words God gets blamed for a lot of things that he has nothing to do with. It is not God’s will that men sin, or that they suffer and die. Tragedy of any kind is not God’s will! Sincere men and women explain suffering and death as if they were gifts from God.

I’ve hear other explain suffering as the consequence of a the suffer’s lack of faith. Maybe you have heard this phrase, “if you have enough faith you will never be sick, you will never ben in financial need, your marriage or family will never experience adversity. If you have enough faith you can live a trouble free life.

Faith is not a magic spell to ward off disaster!

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33 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Jesus wants you to have peace. (He said, I am leaving you a gift. Peace of mind!)

Jesus wants you to keep your faith. (He have us the heads up so we would not abandon our faith.)

Jesus wants you to have courage. (He said don’t be troubles or afraid.)

Jesus wants you to know that you are not alone. (As the God the Father was with Him, He is with us.)

In contrast to our assumption that peace means the absence of conflict, Jesus promises that his peace becomes apparent in the very middle of trouble and conflict. Troubles remind us to ask for Jesus’ peace. God’s answer will not usually mean that the problem will be over, but that Christ’s peace will see us through it.

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 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”

Notice the words that Jesus used to describe what happened to both houses.

Vs. 25, Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house

Vs. 27, When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house

The only difference between the two houses was the result.

Believers are not immune to storms of life no matter how strong their faith. In Christ, we do have faith to stand! The difference between the believer and unbeliever, is not that one is spared from life’s inevitable storms while the other is not. In Christ the believer has recourses to overcome the storm regardless of how severe it may be.

There are some who believe that God sends the storms, but I cannot conceive our loving father doing something like that. Perhaps He allows them to come. For certain, he redeems them—that is, He touches them with His Spirit, transforming them into instruments of grace that work for our eternal benefit. This doesn’t make the storms we face painless, but it gives our pain purpose.

Now instead of viewing pain as an enemy to be overcome, we see it as an ally. Instead of fighting it we embrace it. Not because of enjoyment of pain, but in faith believe that what the evil one intended for our destruction God has redeemed and is now using for our eternal good.

We need to believe God that no matter what happens that He will redeem it!

-8New Living Translation (NLT)

Though I am surrounded by troubles,

    you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.

You reach out your hand,

    and the power of your right hand saves me.

8  The Lord will work out his plans for my life—

    for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.

    Don’t abandon me, for you made me.

There is no experience He cannot use if we will surrender it to Him, no personal failure He cannot redeem and cause to contribute to our ultimate Christlikeness.

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And I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters,[a] that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News.

Trouble is a good news/bad news scenario…

The bad news is

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“How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!

The good news is

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The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles.

When trouble comes do not despair! Don’t berate yourself for lack of faith, an imagined sin, and don’t blame God. Instead we recognize that as members of this human family. A family that is tainted by sin and death, we are subject to the inevitable storms in life. Because we know that “in all things God worlds for the good of those who love Him” we find strength in Christ. Not just to endure the storm, but overcome it!