WHAT A GREAT PROMISE FROM GOD'S WORD. THERE IS COMING A TIME FOR ALL WHO HAVE PLACED THEIR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST WHEN THERE WILL BE NO MORE PAIN! NEARLY TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO, THOMAS JEFFERSON WROTE: "THE ART OF LIFE IS THE AVOIDING OF PAIN." WHEN WE FIRST HEAR THAT STATEMENT, IT APPEARS TO BE TRUE. NONE OF US DELIBERATELY LOOKS FOR PAIN AS WE GO ABOUT OUR DAILY LIFE, ALL OF US DO OUR BEST TO AVOID PAIN, BUT PAIN IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT.
IN OUR EXPERIENCE THERE ARE MANY TIMES WHEN WE HAVE CHOSEN NOT TO AVOID THE PAIN. FOR AN EXAMPLE LOOK AT THE MATTER OF HUMAN BIRTH, CERTAINLY THERE HAVE BEEN GREAT ADVANCEMENTS IN MEDICINE TO PROTECT THE MOTHER, BUT THERE IS STILL A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF PAIN. JESUS USED THIS AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF His OWN SUFFERING. CF. JN. 16:21.
THINK OF THE PAIN AND SORROW THAT A MOTHER AND FATHER EXPERIENCE AS THEY SEEK TO RAISE THAT CHILD. SOMEONE HAS SAID THAT WHEN CHILDREN ARE LITTLE, THEY STEP ON YOUR FEET; BUT WHEN THEY ARE OLDER, THEY STEP ON YOUR HEART! I HAVE MET MANY DEDICATED CHRISTIAN PARENTS WHOSE HEARTS HAVE BEEN BROKEN BECAUSE OF A WAYWARD CHILD WHO FAILED TO HEED THEIR INSTRUCTION AND EXAMPLE. IF EVERYBODY REALLY LIVED TO AVOID PAIN, NOBODY WOULD GET MARRIED AND RAISE A FAMILY; YET PEOPLE DO IT ALL THE TIME.
PAIN, ITSELF, IS NOT SINFUL. SOME PAIN AND SUFFERING COMES BECAUSE OF DISOBEDIENCE; BUT NOT ALL PAIN IS THE RESULT OF SIN. As I MENTIONED LAST WEEK, PAIN IS A DANGER SIGNAL, AND WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL FOR IT, IF WE NEVER FELT PAIN WHEN SOMETHING WAS WRONG IN OUR BODIES, WE WOULD DIE FROM NEGLECT. BUT WHAT GOOD is PAIN TO us SPIRITUALLY? THIS IS WHERE WE WANT TO FOCUS OUR ATTENTION THIS EVENING.
I. OUR RESPONSE TO PAIN.
A. WE ARE IN A HURRY FOR IT TO BE OVER, AND WHEN IT IS WE FORGET ABOUT IT.
1. WE SAY "THANK GOODNESS THAT'S OVER!"
2. WE DO NOT ALLOW THE EXPERIENCE TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT PART IN OUR FUTURE.
3. THERE IS NO CHANGE, THEREFORE NO GROWTH.
4 . EXAMPLE OF "BIT-0-HONEY" AND MY CROWN.
B. WE BECOME SO BOUND TO THE EXPERIENCE THAT IT HINDERS OUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
1. WE NEVER FORGET ABOUT IT.
2. IT BECOMES A FOCAL POINT IN OUR LIVES,
3. WE CAN BECOME BITTER IF WE FOCUS ONLY ON THE AFFLICTION, AND FAIL TO VIEW IT AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH.
4. SUFFERING AND PAIN CAN BECOME A MIRROR, WHERE WE ONLY SEE OURSELVES AND OUR OWN NEEDS, OR IT CAN BECOME A WINDOW THROUGH WHICH WE CAN SEE THE NEEDS OF OTHERS. CF. 2 Co. 1:3-4 a
C. WE NEED TO RESPOND TO PAIN IN A SPIRITUALLY MATURE MANNER
1. SUFFERING AND PAIN IS AN EXPECTED PART OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. CF. ACTS 14:21- 22
2. PETER TELLS US THAT WE SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED. CF. I PE, 4:12-13
3. RATHER WE SHOULD REJOICE IN THE TRIALS.
II. THE MINISTRY OF PAIN,
A. PAIN AND AFFLICTION REVEALS SPIRITUAL NEEDS. CF. PS. 119:67
1. HERE WAS A MAN WHO WAS ENJOYING CONSIDERABLE MATERIAL PROSPERITY.
2. HIS LIFE WAS FULL AND SATISFYING, BUT HE DID NOT SEE THAT HIS NATURAL PROSPERITY WAS DISGUISING HIS SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY.
3. HIS AFFLICTION REVEALED HIS NEED SPIRITUALLY.
4. REMEMBER, NOT ALL PAIN AND SUFFERING IS INTENDED AS A WARNING AGAINST SPIRITUAL DECLINE, BUT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN THIS IS THE CASE.
5. "BEFORE I WAS AFFLICTED I WENT ASTRAY. . . "
6. GOD'S MERCY IS SEEN IN THAT HE DOESN'T ALLOW US TO CONTINUE TO DRIFT AWAY, BUT SENDS CHASTISEMENT TO WAKE US UP!
7. NOTE: v7 "IT IS GOOD FOR ME THAT I HAVE BEEN AFFLICTED.
a. TO BE ABLE TO SEE BEYOND THE PAIN AND SEE THE HAND OF GOD IS A MARK OF MATURITY.
b. HE KNEW THE STATUTES INTELLECTUALLY, BUT NOW HE LEARNED THEM BY EXPERIENCE.
c. IT IS ONE THING TO QUOTE ROMANS 8:28, BUT IT IS QUITE ANOTHER THING TO EXPERIENCE IT!
B. PAIN AND AFFLICTION REVEAL THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. CF. v75
1. AT FIRST GLANCE WE MIGHT SAY THAT THE WRITER WAS SAYING THAT HE WAS SIMPLY GETTING WHAT HE DESERVED.
2. HOWEVER, IF THAT WAS THE CASE HE WOULD HAVE SAID "IN JUSTICE THOU HAST AFFLICTED ME".
3. THROUGH IT ALL, HE RECOGNIZED GOD'S FAITHFULNESS,
4. NOTE THE EXAMPLE OF JOSEPH.
a. AS A YOUNG MAN HE HAD BEEN MARKED OUT BY GOD FOR LEADERSHIP AMONG HIS PEOPLE.
b. IN HIS HEART HE WENT ASTRAY BECAUSE OF PRIDE.
c. THEN IT WAS ONE AFFLICTION AFTER ANOTHER IN HIS LIFE UNTIL GOD'S WILL WAS FULFILLED THROUGH HIM.
d. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, JOSEPH LEARNED THIS SAME LESSON. CF. GE. 50:20
e. HE WAS ABLE TO SEE THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOO THROUGH IT ALL.
C. PAIN CAN BRING YOU INTO CLOSER FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST.
1. SOME PEOPLE TURN AGAINST GOD WHEN THEY GO THROUGH SUFFERING, BUT THIS NEED NOT BE SO.
2. WE CAN BE DRAWN CLOSER TO CHRIST THROUGH PAIN BECAUSE OF THE FELLOWSHIP WE HAVE WITH HIM.
3. NOTE: PHILIPPIANS 3: 10
4 . PAUL KNEW SOMETHING ABOUT PAIN.
a. CF. 2 Co. 12:2-10
b. JESUS SAID, "MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE: FOR MY STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS."
CONCLUSION: PAIN CAN HAVE A PURIFYING POWER IN OUR LIVES AS IT REVEALS AREAS OF SPIRITUAL NEEDS, IT ALSO POINTS US TO THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD, AND IT BRINGS US INTO CLOSER FELLOWSHIP WITH Him. WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO PAIN? HAVE YOU SURRENDERED YOUR PAIN TO CHRIST AND ASKED HIM TO USE IT FOR His GLORY? GOO NEVER PROMISED TO REMOVE OUR PAIN, OR EVEN TO RELIEVE OUR PAIN; BUT HE DOES PROMISE TO TRANSFORM IT AND USE IT FOR HIS ETERNAL PURPOSE.