Called to Suffer

When the sermons I preach at church speak to our trial, I usually publish the manuscript in this space. That is the case today. Before the sermon, though, let me remind you to please pray for Linda at her doctor's appointment on Tuesady (see last post). Her cough remains. She is often uncomfortable (back), and with the cough, her chest, throat, and ears hurt, so those are some specific prayer requests.

I hope God's Word (in the sermon) will minister to you.

Well, 2008 is here and the elders of Grace Community Church have determined that we will once again function as a body with a theme this year. Last year our theme was “Outreach.” Even though we emphasized the importance of evangelism from the pulpit quite a few times last year, we did not provide evangelism training, nor did we offer as many outreach events as we would have liked – but, there was a reason. The Lord changed our focus early in the year as it became clear that He was calling our church to a place of suffering. We have not yet been released from that difficult calling.

So, we will pursue another theme this year. No, not the theme of “suffering,” but our theme will be a response to suffering. Our theme for the year will be Intimacy with Jesus. It is clear to our elders, and I think to everyone here, that God has put our church in a bit of a holding pattern. That does not mean that we will not think about the future or that we do not expect growth. It does mean, though, that we believe the Lord is calling our church to be as close to Jesus as possible as we prepare to move forward. It would seem that one of the primary ways the Lord is drawing us to Himself is through suffering. Today’s message and next Sunday’s sermon will both deal with these themes of suffering and intimacy.

I said last Sunday that my text would be Romans 5:1-5. That will actually be the text for next Sunday’s message, which will be titled Intimacy with Jesus. Today’s text is Acts 14:8-23, though this will one of those rare messages – for me, that is – in which we will look at a pretty good number of Scriptures in order to try to gain some perspective on suffering. Acts 14 will establish the reality of suffering for believers, then for our primary focus, we will move to the book of Romans to answer the questions “why” and “how” both believers and unbelievers suffer. Before I confuse you further, let’s look at our text. I promise, it will make sense soon. Our text this morning is Acts 14:8-23. Would you please stand for the reading of the Word?

8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked.
9 He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,
10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.
11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out,
15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.
16 In past generations He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.
17 Yet He did not leave Himself without witness, for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
18 Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifices to them.
19 But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
20 But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.
21 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
23 And went they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in Whom they had believed.

We are going to talk about two types of suffering this morning. The first type of suffering is one we just read about, the inevitable suffering that Christians will experience in this world because of their relationship with Jesus. Our time on this first point will be limited. In fact, almost half of our time on this point has already been spent reading the text.

The second type of suffering we will discuss, and that which will take most of our time, is the suffering that is part of the universal human experience. Every person alive suffers. We are going to talk about the why and the how of human suffering. First, though, our initial text tells us about suffering that believers must endure.

Acts 14 tells us that Paul and Barnabas brought the gospel to Lystra. When the Lord used Paul to heal a crippled man, the people of Lystra thought Paul and Barnabas were gods and they wanted to offer sacrifices to them. Paul and Barnabas were barely able to keep the people from doing so. Then, astonishingly the crowd moved from a desire to worship Paul to a willingness to execute him when they were persuaded to do so by a contingent of Jews that had come from Antioch and Iconium, a few towns where Paul and Barnabas had already preached the gospel. Paul’s enemies left him for dead, but the Lord delivered him from death – that time.

After Paul and Barnabas went on to Derbe and preached the gospel with much fruit, they returned to the scene of the crime – literally. I wonder how many of you would have gone back into the very town where you had been lynched and then back into the cities where the lynching had been planned? I doubt many of us would have that kind of moxie.

When Paul returned to the cities where he had faced persecution, he went to believers with a sobering message found in verse 22 – followers of Jesus will enter the kingdom of God through many tribulations. So, what does it mean that tribulation will be a part of the Christian experience? Plain and simple, Paul is saying that believers will always bring a message that aggravates the world system. We will always be swimming upstream. Our message, in fact, will raise the ire of those who do not believe. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying all who do not believe as we do are out to persecute us --- but some are.

Let me ask you a question. Do you think that God designed the church to be a political power? I don’t think so! Do you think there will ever be a day when committed followers of Jesus will be the most respected people of a nation? Oh, there may have been some of those times in the past in some places and it may happen again, but we will never have the worldwide acclaim and influence some Christians seem to crave. We are, as a church, called to suffer. If you have never suffered for your faith, then it is likely that very few people know about your faith. Granted, we do not suffer here in the same way our brothers and sisters suffer in North Korea, but it is true that suffering is part of our calling. Persecution will tend to either drive us toward Jesus or away from Jesus. In this year when Intimacy with Jesus is our theme, let us be willing to bear our crosses, which means, in part, to be willing to identify with the shame Jesus’ endured, and let us allow our suffering to drive us to Jesus.

But, what of the suffering we experience that is not a result of our faith? What about the sickness and the loss of loved ones and job losses and the relational pain we have experienced as a church this past year? Does that not count as real suffering in our relationship with the Lord? As I have said several times, if that is true, throw the book of Job out the window! The level of suffering that has visited us this year has led our elders to believe that we have been called to suffer as a church, and we also believe that suffering has been brought upon us in order to increase our intimacy with Jesus.

But let’s face it, all humanity experiences some of the difficulties we have encountered this past year. Suffering, after all, is a universal experience. Groaning is a universal language. Why is there such suffering? Turn, please, to Romans 1 where will look at verse 18 and then back up and look at verses 16 and 17. Let’s begin with a rather troubling revelation about one of the ways God relates to mankind. Verse 18: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” Why is God pouring out His wrath on mankind? Because of sin.

It is important to note that the verb “revealed” is in the present tense in the Greek, which means a continuous action, so it would be accurate to translate “the wrath of God is being revealed.” 24 hours a day, seven days a week, week after week, year after year, every minute of every day, the wrath of God is being revealed to mankind. In just a moment, we will talk about how the wrath of God is revealed, or, the different ways we experience this wrath. You will see that believers and unbelievers alike suffer as a result of God’s righteous wrath, although the end result of suffering is much different for believers and unbelievers. But before we look at the ways God’s wrath is revealed, we must ask the question, “Is this all there is? Is God relating to us in more ways than through His wrath?” Absolutely, and the specifics are found in the two previous verses, 16 and 17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. (That’s everyone. Anyone who believes in Jesus finds salvation) For in it (the gospel, this message that brings persecution upon us) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, “the righteous shall live by faith.”

Once again, we find the word “revealed” in the present tense, meaning it should be read, “The righteousness of God is being revealed” all day, every day to the believer, for the rest of your life! That’s good news! Suffering, then, is mitigated somewhat for the believer – but it is not eliminated. Why? Because the wrath of God is being revealed to all humanity, and even those of us who have believed the gospel that Jesus died to placate God’s wrath against us still suffer because sin entered the world at the beginning of the human race with Adam and Eve, and because we have sinned. How is God’s wrath revealed? John Piper says there are three ways we clearly see God’s wrath revealed in the world, and they are all explained in Romans. We will move quickly, but you may want to write these down and look at them later – it is a good study.

The first way God’s wrath is being revealed universally is through death. We all die. Some die at 100 years of age, and some die before they live 100 days, but we all die. Why? Because of sin. Let’s turn to Romans 5. Look first at verse 12: “Sin came into the world through one man, and death spread through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” The last part of verse 12 confirms what we already know – no one is exempt. We all will die. Then look down at the middle of verse 16: “For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation.”

These are difficult words to absorb! So difficult, in fact, that many preachers who should know better are deemphasizing words like wrath and judgment and condemnation. But Scripture tells us that God’s wrath is being revealed in death, in condemnation, and in judgment. We cannot escape death, unless the Lord returns before we die, but we can escape wrath and condemnation through Jesus. More about that in just a few moments.

The second way God’s wrath is being revealed is in futility. You know about futility, don’t you? Let’s look at Romans 8:18-20:

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us.
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him Who subjected it in hope.

You save and plan all year for a vacation, and when you get to your dream location, it rains all week – and you have the flu. Futile. You work hard, you plan wisely, you pray for wisdom, and then just a few years before retirement, you make a few bad investments, and, well, you know. Frustrating, isn’t it? I think it goes beyond that!

Linda and I had just begun really enjoying our empty nest years when her tumor changed everything. The last few years we have been planning our retirement, serving the Lord in Europe or in Asia while teaching English as a Second Language. Those plans are in serious jeopardy. “But, those were godly plans, spiritual plans!” Life is filled with futility, is it not? And futility is one way that God’s wrath is being revealed in our world. Verse 20 tells us that God is the one Who subjected the creation to futility. How do we know that verse 20 is talking about God? Because He is the ONLY one who could subject the creation to futility in hope. Man could not offer hope, Satan certainly would not – God subjected His creation to futility because of sin, but He did so in hope. We will explore the concept of hope much more fully next week.

Is futility all that we experience in this life? Of course not! In Romans 2:4, Paul asks the lost man on behalf of God, “Do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” It is the same message that Paul gave to the people of Lystra – GOD is the one Who blesses us in any number of ways. We are told in Scripture that He sends the rain on the just and the unjust. So, we see a great deal of God’s kindness revealed to all men, but futility is a mark of His wrath.

The third way God’s wrath is being revealed is through the moral degradation that is so prevalent in our world today. One of the worst things that can happen to us is for God to let us go our own way. You have been there before, haven’t you? You get away with wrong attitudes or with wrong actions, and then one day you realize just how far you have gone. Some people never realize how far they have gone before it is eternally too late because God lets them go. That’s one expression of His wrath. Romans 1:28: “Since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” Paul was referring specifically to sexual perversion when he said their debased minds did those things that ought not to be done.

Well, we could spend so much more time here, but we can already clearly conclude that we suffer because of sin, and that suffering is revealed through death, in futility, and by moral degradation. It would be quite discouraging if this is where the story ended, but there is good news! Because of our limited time, you will have to plumb the riches of God’s truth on your own later today or this week, so once again, let me encourage you to take notes.

God’s wrath is being revealed in death, but Romans 8:1 tells us that there is no condemnation for those who believe in Jesus. The sting of death has been removed for the believer – 1 Corinthians 15:55-57. I will not take time to read the verses, but please write them down and do the study! You know the verses in this passage, anyway – death has no sting for the believer, the grave is not victorious because Jesus has made us victorious. At the end of our lives, death moves in on us like a bee with a stinger, but just before we die, the stinger is removed and death must serve us as it ushers us into the presence of the Lord! Isn’t that awesome? There is more good news.

There is no futility for the believer. Romans 8:28 – We know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose. Did you get that? There is no futility for the believer. Everything that happens to us is part of God’s grand design, and don’t go trying to figure His design out, just trust Him. It does not mean that there is no pain – we suffer, for sure, but we can trust that God is not only working for His glory, but also for our good.

Last, the good news for believers is that we are freed from the power of sin. Romans 6 tells us so – the whole chapter. Do not get me wrong, we will sin until we draw our last breath, but the direction of the believer’s life will ultimately be to become more like Jesus. If you say, “I wish that were true of me,” then start believing – not in yourself, but in God’s promise. All these trials and difficulties, and even our failures, can lead us to intimacy with Jesus. Let it be so in your life this year.

Would the elders please come forward for communion? All of the Scripture we have read today, much of it from the book of Romans, tells us just how important Jesus’ death is to us. That’s why we gladly follow our Savior’s command to come to His table and eat the bread and drink the fruit of the vine to remember His death and, as we are told in 1 Corinthians 10, to participate in the body and blood of Jesus.