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. 2 But as for me, my feet had
almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I
was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4
For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. 5
They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest
of mankind. 6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers
them as a garment. 7 Their eyes swell out through fatness; their
hearts overflow with follies. 8 They scoff and speak with
malice; loftily they threaten oppression. 9 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
2 Dear
brothers and sisters, [a] when troubles come your way, consider it an
opportunity for great joy.3 For you
know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 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.
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; 36:5; Isaiah 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).
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 28:12-28; Jeremiah 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 1:17; Jude 1:25).
It is God who is the source
of wisdom:
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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