Sunday, June 1, 2014

Can You Trust God?


SERMON            GMT14-018

SERIES:              Topical – Helping the Church Learn to Suffer

SETTING:          North Kelso Baptist Church

SERVICE:          Sunday AM

SUBTITLE:        Can You Trust God?

SCRIPTURE:     Selected Scriptures

SUBJ:                  Trusting God when it hurts

SUMMARY:       I propose to you that God can be trusted in every circumstance of your life

SCHEME:           The aim of this message is that the members of NKBC trust God regardless of circumstances

1A     In order to trust God we must realize we are not exempt from suffering

2A     In order to trust God we must view circumstances through faith

3A     In order to trust God we must trust when we don’t understand

4A     In order to trust God we must know God intimately

5A     In order to trust God we must desire God’s glory


Can You Trust God?
Selected Scriptures

INTRODUCTION

A.   The Dreaded Reports 
An email on May 8th brought sad news. Our former pastor’s wife’s mother had died at 4:40 that morning. She had lived a long life and knew the Lord.

Regardless of whether you are “prepared” or taken by surprise, the death of a loved one is very painful.

The pastor of some friends that I “met” through my blog and then and had diner together, was recently diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. He is young, has two young children, and a growing church in Carson City, NV. Now he has cancer.

My best friend from High School has just been diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

B.   The Dreaded Reality

Cancer, other physical problems, and even death are obviously not the only things that can bring or produce pain and suffering in our lives.

·        Many people have lost their jobs during this last recession
·        Many people have lost their homes & have become homeless
·        People have lost their business and have lost everything
·        Many people are involved in car accidents
·        Many marriages failed this year, both Christian & non-Christian
·        Some people have lost family members to kidnapping, murder, etc.
·        Some have been victims of crime
·        Some have been victims of family abuse

The harsh reality is that most people, including each one of us face tremendous adversity, trials, sufferings, and problems in various forms and at various times in our lives.
Not only are we well aware of the local pain and suffering in our own family or our own lives, we also face the reality of pain and suffering in the world around us:

·        We see the awful effects of terrorism around the world
·        We are aware of droughts and famines starving people to death
·        We see racial prejudice and injustice
·        We see the persecution of Christians in other countries
·        We still don’t know what happened to that airliner that vanished

C.   The Dreaded Rhetoric

With the pain and suffering that we have faced, or are facing right now, or will face, it is easy to ask the $64,000.00 question: where is God?

It becomes somewhat easy and natural to ask, “Doesn’t God care about all the people who are suffering and in such great pain? Doesn’t He care about the people who are starving, or being abused, or being exterminated for that matter?

The question that we are forced to face and answer when we face adversity, pain, or suffering is “Can I trust God?”

Prov 27:1“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.” (Prov 27:1, ESV)

Solomon makes it clear that we don’t know what is going to happen to us from day to day. We don’t know from one minute to the next minute what will happen to us. We think we do. We hope we do. We plan like we do. We expect what we think or want to happen will happen. But in reality, we don’t have the slightest idea what will take place in the next 60 seconds, let alone in the next 60 days.

Our theme is: Trusting God when it hurts

This is a good reminder for us all that God can be trusted in every circumstance of your life

Exhortation: I exhort you to trust God regardless of circumstances

Interrogative Sentence:  What do we need to know in order to trust God?

Transitional Sentence:  Today’s topic suggests five (5) essential principles that we need to know in order to be able to trust God in our pain and suffering.

 [So, without further delay, let’s look at the first principle God intends for us to know in order to trust in when we are suffering.

1A     In order to trust God we must realize we are not exempt from suffering

          Job 5:7 – ESV

          “…man is born to trouble as the sparks fly up.”

          Job 5:7 – NLT

“People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire.”

God’s people are not immune from pain or suffering. Christians do not get a pass from trials and tribulations of this life. Becoming a Christian does not make eradicate pain and suffering.

Ecclesiastes 2:23 – ESV

“For all his days are full of sorrows, and his work is a vexation. Even in the night his heart does not rest…”

As believers we are not exempt from suffering. Sometimes it seems as if Christians suffer more than non-Christians. It sometimes seem like the unsaved have it made while Christians have on problem after another.

Asaph thought this way at one time. Listen to him: 

Illustration: Asaph (Psalms 73)

Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. 10  Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. 11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” 12 Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

To Asaph it seemed like being a follower of God had no benefit for him and from what he could see the wicked had no problems. All he could see was the pain and suffering that Israel was experiencing. God’s people did not seem to be better off.

The question comes up, “Where is God in all of this?” At some point, almost all of us will ask or think, “Can I really trust God with all of this pain and suffering in my life?”

In order to trust God we must first realize that we are not exempt from suffering because we are Christians.

Our theme is: Trusting God when it hurts

This is a good reminder for us all that God can be trusted in every circumstance of your life

Exhortation: I exhort you to trust God regardless of circumstances 

So, the first principle we learn is that we are not exempt from pain and suffering because we are Christians.

[The second principle suggested by our topic is…]

2A     In order to trust God we must view circumstances through faith

The most difficult part of the pain and suffering that we experience is truly realizing that it is for God’s glory and for our own good.

James 1:2-4 – NLT

Dear brothers and sisters, [a] when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

We must constantly fight against the flesh in order to remember that we must view our pain and suffering through the lens of faith and not through our senses.

There is no doubt that our senses are screaming out in opposition to the trials and tribulations that come upon us.

·        We experience great grief and pain
·        We may experience great physical pain or suffering
·        At times our mind is our worst enemy as it dwells on pain & suffering

We must go to the bible to find the biblical view of God’s involvement in our pain and suffering.

Job 23:10 – ESV

“…he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as God.” 

Psalm 119:67 – ESV

“Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.”

2 Corinthians 4:17 – ESV

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are not seen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

Hebrews 12:11 – ESV

“For the moment all discipline [KJV-chastening] seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

But you must know – it is only from the Scriptures which the HS applies to our hearts that we receive the grace of God that is needed to trust God and to view our suffering from the proper perspective. We must be in the Word.

The bible will teach you at least as a bare minimum three essential truths necessary to view your pain and suffering properly:

·         God is completely sovereign - “God is in control.”

o   There is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority. As King of kings and Lord of lords, God has no limitations. Consider just a few of the claims the Bible makes about God:

o   God is above all things and before all things. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He is immortal, and He is present everywhere so that everyone can know Him (Revelation 21:6).

o   God created all things and holds all things together, both in heaven and on earth, both visible and invisible (Colossians 1:16). 

o   God knows all things past, present, and future. There is no limit to His knowledge, for God knows everything completely before it even happens (Romans 11:33).

o   God can do all things and accomplish all things. Nothing is too difficult for Him, and He orchestrates and determines everything that is going to happen in your life, in my life, in America, and throughout the world. Whatever He wants to do in the universe, He does, for nothing is impossible with Him (Jeremiah 32:17).

o   God is in control of all things and rules over all things. He has power and authority over nature, earthly kings, history, angels, and demons. Even Satan himself has to ask God’s permission before he can act (Psalm 103:19).

·        God is infinite in wisdom

If there is anything the Bible teaches us about God, it is that He is all-wise.
13 “With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding” (Job 12:13).

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable (Isaiah 40:28).

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (Romans 11:33; see also Job 9:1-4; 36:5Isaiah 31:1-2).

God is all-wise, infinitely wise:
5 “Behold, God is mighty but does not despise [any;] [He is] mighty in strength of understanding” (Job 36:5).

5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite (Psalms 147:5). 

God’s wisdom is vastly superior to human wisdom:
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9; see also Job 28:12-28Jeremiah 51:15-17).

God alone is wise:
25 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, 26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, [leading] to obedience of faith; 27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen (Romans 16:25-27; see also 1 Timothy 1:17Jude 1:25).

It is God who is the source of wisdom:
6 For the LORD gives wisdom; From His mouth [come] knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6).

20 Daniel answered and said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him” (Daniel 2:20).

5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

·        God is perfect in love

Someone once wrote, “God in his love always wills what is best for us. In his wisdom He always knows what is best, and in his sovereignty He has the power to bring it about.”

So, we must view our pain and suffering through the proper lens in order to have the proper perspective of our pain and suffering in order to trust God. 

Our theme is: Trusting God when it hurts

This is a good reminder for us all that God can be trusted in every circumstance of your life

Exhortation: I exhort you to trust God regardless of circumstances


[The third essential principle God intends for us to know in order to trust in when we are suffering is…]

3A     In order to trust God we must trust when we don’t understand
         
          The book of Job is all about the theme we are discussing today. Job’s theme deals with having faith in a sovereign God. In question form, it is can God be trusted?

          Is God good and just in his rule of this world?

          In chapter 19:6-7 Job will actually dare to say that God has done him wrong. However, at the same time Job declares this, he believes God, who at this time he thinks is his enemy, will actually vindicate him as actually be his advocate.

          As you carefully mediate through Job you will discover that from the beginning to the end the reason for pain and suffering many times is simply a secret. Job as far as we can tell never learned the reason for all of his pain and suffering.

          Job’s friends are absolutely no help to him. At times they add to his pain and suffering.

          The main lesson from the book of Job is that you do not have to have a full understanding of God’s reasons for the pain and suffering in your life in order to be obedient, faithful, and thankful.

          Someone asked C.S. Lewis, "Why do the righteous suffer?" "Why not?" he replied. "They're the only ones who can take it."

Illustration:  Most of the Psalms were born in difficulty.

Most of the Epistles were written in prisons.

Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire.

Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress from jail.

Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals of England.

Semi-paralyzed and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease.

During the greater part of his life, American historian Francis Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes as a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history.

Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, he puts him through the fire.

The only trouble is God is not under any compulsion to tell us why we are put in the fire.

Illustration:  On a wall in his bedroom Charles Spurgeon had a plaque with Isaiah 48:10 on it:

"I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction." "It is no mean thing to be chosen of God," he wrote. "God's choice makes chosen men choice men...We are chosen, not in the palace, but in the furnace. In the furnace, beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed; yet here eternal love reveals its secrets, and declares its choice."

Listen, forget about finding out why, and strive to be obedient and faithful during suffering, trusting God and wait for the deliverance, either in this life or the life to come.

Our theme is: Trusting God when it hurts

This is a good reminder for us all that God can be trusted in every circumstance of your life

Exhortation: I exhort you to trust God regardless of circumstances

[The third essential principle God intends for us to know in order to trust in when we are suffering is…]     

4A     In order to trust God we must know God intimately

          We talked a little about this on Mother’s Day. We said that if we knew God’s character and nature intimately we would choose sin less. Sin and failure is often a result of not knowing God’s character. We simply do not know God intimately.

          Lamentations 3:32-33 –

          “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”

          As bleak and painful as Israel’s suffering had become under God’s hand, is loving-kindness was always present. His incredible faithfulness was always exercised. The bedrock of our Christian faith is that God will always do what He says he will do. That his character is truthful and faithful and compassionate.

          If you don’t know God intimately you don’t have any confidence in him. You don’t know if you can trust him or not. 

Illustration:  Jim Elliot, the martyred missionary, wrote in his personal journal: "I walked out on the hill just now. It is exalting, delicious, to stand embraced by the shadows of a friendly tree with the wind tugging at your coattail and the heavens hailing your heart, to gaze and glory and give oneself again to God - what more could a man ask? Oh, the fullness, pleasure, sheer excitement of knowing God on earth! I care not if I never raise my voice again for Him, if only I may love Him, please Him . . . If only I may see Him, touch His garments, and smile into His eyes."

J. I. Packer, in Knowing God, says, "What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the ‘eternal life,' that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God. (John 17:3) What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment than anything else? Knowledge of God. (Jeremiah 9:23). What, of all the states God ever sees man in, gives Him the most pleasure? The knowledge of Himself. (Hosea 6:6)" 

So, we can learn a valuable lesson from this experience of Eve: God is compassionate and merciful. He will forgive us our sins.

Some ways that to cultivate intimacy for God:

Vs. 2 - "I have seen you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory."
Intimacy with the Father demands silence and extended times with Him. His acquaintance is not made known hurriedly. It involves cultivating the awareness of God's presence and works on a daily basis. 

Vs. 4 - "I will praise you as long as I live." Vs. 5 – "my soul shall be satisfied...with singing lips my mouth will praise you."

David's life was punctuated with praise and worship. His deepest satisfaction was in God alone. David had made a lifelong commitment to walk intimately with God right into eternity. 

Vs. 6 - "On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night."
David had learned how to constantly meditate on God, His Word and His works.

Psalm 1:2 conveys David's deep commitment to the Scriptures. Since he delighted in them, he meditated on them day and night. We know now through Christ's revelation that the entirety of Scripture clearly reveals Him. To know Him intimately, we must devote ourselves to soaking ourselves in the Scriptures. 

Our theme is: Trusting God when it hurts

This is a good reminder for us all that God can be trusted in every circumstance of your life

Exhortation: I exhort you to trust God regardless of circumstances

[The fifth and final essential principle God intends for us to know in order to trust in when we are suffering is…]    

5A     In order to trust God we must desire God’s glory

          "...glorify thou me with thine own self..." (John 17:5).

No man can rightly define glory, any more than he can define God. Glory is the fullness of God, and that is a subject too high for our finite minds. Yet, we do know in part.

When God gives His glory, He gives Himself. He cannot parcel Himself out in pieces - no man receives a portion, but all. The one who receives His love also gets His mercy, His holiness, and His strength. The one who receives His mercy also gets His love and all else that is the fullness of God.

That is the glory of God - that He gives Himself in fullness and never partially. And those who seek the glory of God must learn that God truly desires to give Himself to us, which means He wants us to enjoy fullness.

Jesus, before He left the earth to return to His heavenly Father, prayed, "O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was..." (John 17:5).

Jesus was not seeking more power, or honor, or might, or majesty! He yearned for the Father Himself. It was as though He prayed, "My Father, I cannot exist without Your intimacy any longer. I hunger for oneness, closeness! That there be no distance, though You fill all."

Jesus was in the bosom of the Father before the world was. He was one with the Father, and that was glory. It was union with Him that was the delight and glory of His being. He had INTIMACY, UNION, and ONENESS.

We know so little of His glory. We think only in terms of cosmic power and splendor. We are such strangers to the real meaning of God's glory, we don't even understand what Jesus meant when He said, "I am glorified in them" (v. 10).

How many of God's people today can pray such a prayer as our Savior prayed? Can we sincerely cry out to our blessed Lord, "Glorify me with Thyself! Bring me into oneness. I yearn to be closer, more intimate. Master, it is you that I want. More than love, or mercy, power, signs or wonders--I must have the glory of you. I must have your presence!"

Many people say they will give Me ALL the glory. But, in actuality, they reserve a spot in their heart for their own worship.”

I immediately knew He was not only referring to other people. But, myself as well.

How many times have you said that you were ready to give God ALL the glory (credit, praise, accolades, etc.) for whatever great things happen in your life (success, accomplishments, acknowledgment, etc.)?

Did you mean it?

Did you really think about what that meant?

From a logical standpoint, if you give anyone ALL of something, there’s nothing left over for you. In other words, if you really give God ALL the glory for the things that you are able to accomplish in this life, there’ll be NO GLORY left over for you to give yourself. There’s no room for you to revel in your own greatness.

Is that really what you meant?

If so, you’re asking for people to say, “Wow. Look what God did in his/her life;” not, “Wow. Look at what he/she was able to accomplish with all of her talent, hard work, and dedication.”

Again, is that really what you meant?

According to Exodus 34:14, God is a “jealous God,” and He will not share his glory with anyone; nor, should he have to. He desires to use our lives to bring about change in the world, and magnify His purpose among His people.

ILL. “The problem of reconciling human suffering with the existence of a God who loves, is only insoluble so long as we attach a trivial meaning to the word "love", and look on things as if man were the center of them. Man is not the center. God does not exist for the sake of man. Man does not exist for his own sake. "Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." We were made not primarily that we may love God (though we were made for that too) but that God may love us, that we may become objects in which the divine love may rest "well pleased".”

― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
Our theme is: Trusting God when it hurts

This is a good reminder for us all that God can be trusted in every circumstance of your life

Exhortation: I exhort you to trust God regardless of circumstances

 [What do you say we wrap this up?]
CONCLUSION

None of us like trials or pain. None of us like to suffer. None of us wants to face the future with uncertainty, pain, suffering, sorrow or fear.

We face reality every day. We, being Christians are not exempt from pain or suffering. God wants us to trust Him. The reason He wants us to trust him initially doesn’t even have anything to do with us.

We are to trust God because God is worthy of trust. He can be trusted. He expects us to trust Him.

There are valuable lessons to be learned about trusting God during the trials, tribulations, and tragedies that occur in our lives. We mentioned just five.

·        In order to trust God we must realize we are not exempt from suffering

·        In order to trust God we must view circumstances through faith

·        In order to trust God we must trust when we don’t understand

·        In order to trust God we must know God intimately

·        In order to trust God we must desire God’s glory

Exhortation:  So, I exhort you to never forget that you can trust God during the trials of your life. Revaluate your perspective about the character and nature of God

Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians (ESV) 


“Therefore when we could bear it no longer, we were willing to be left behind at Athens alone, and we sent Timothy our brother and God’s coworker in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith, that no one be moved by these afflictions..


 Let’s pray! J

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