Last week while Chris and I were on a mission trip in Nicaragua, the front building of our church caught fire and burned to the ground. Although it has been difficult, I do not in any way want to compare myself with other believers who have truly suffered for the cause of Christ. I did, however, think it would be a good time to discuss why God's people suffer. The outline below is taken from a chapter in John Piper and Justin Taylor's book, "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God."
WHY GOD APPOINTS SUFFERING FOR HIS SERVANTS
1. Suffering Deepens Faith and Holiness
Hebrews 12 tells us that God disciplines his children through suffering. His aim is deeper faith and deeper holiness. "He disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness" (Heb. 12:10).
2. Suffering Makes Your Cup Increase
By enduring suffering with patience, the reward of our experience of God's glory in heaven increases. "For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:17-18).
3. Suffering is the Price of Making Others Bold
God will use the suffering of his devoted emissaries to make a sleeping church wake up and take risks for God. When Paul was imprisoned in Rome he wrote of this to the church at Phillipi. "Most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear" (Phil. 1:14).
4. Sufferings Fills Up What is Lacking in Christ's Afflictions
The suffering of Christ's messengers ministers to those they are trying to reach and may open them to the gospel. This was one of the ways Paul brought the gospel to bear on the people in Thessalonica. "You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit" (1 Thess. 1:5-6).
5. The Supremacy of Christ Is Manifest in Suffering
Suffering...is meant by God to magnify the power and sufficiency of Christ. When God declined to remove the suffering of Paul's "thorn in the flesh," he said to Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Suffering with joy proves to the world that our treasure is in heaven and not on the earth, and that this treasure is greater than anything the world has to offer. The supremacy of God's worth shines through the pain that his people will gladly bear for his name.Piper, John and Justin Taylor. Suffering and the Sovereignty of God. Wheaton: Crossway Books. 20006. 91-109.
"Why did God appoint for Paul to suffer so much as the prototype of the frontier missionary? He is sovereign. As every child knows he could toss Satan into the pit today if he wanted to and all his terrorizing of the church would be over. But God wills that the mission of the church advance through storm and suffering." -John Piper
This week we are in Nicaragua. The whole week will be spent training pastors and church leaders on the Doctrine of Scripture. Please be in prayer for the work.
"Missions is not a recruitment project for God's labor force. It is a liberation project from the heavy burdens and hard yokes of other gods (Matt. 11:28-30)." -John Piper, Let the Nations Be Glad!
We leave for Nicaragua this Saturday and will be teaching on the Doctrine of Scripture. Below are the notes from a sermon I will preach to the pastors and church leaders in Corinto, Nicaragua.
THE RIGHT WAY TO RECEIVE AND RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD.
When I was young and my dad and mom told me to do something they wanted me to stop what I was doing and listen closely and respond willingly. They were not OK with me partially listening or listening and not obeying.
God expects the same from His people. James 1:21-25 tells us the proper way to receive and respond to God’s Word.
1. The right way to receive God’s Word is by humbly hearing the Word of God
21Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
In this verse of Scripture you have two phrases that are important. James says “Put away…and receive.” When I was little I would play outside from morning to night. When I came home my mom would tell me that I was not to do anything until I took off my dirty clothes and took a shower. The phrase "put away" carries with it a similar idea. James is saying that for the word to benefit us properly we must first put off all filthiness and wickedness and then receive with meekness God’s word.
The word meekness reflects an attitude that is humble and teachable. When we hear from God, whether it is publicly or privately, we should always receive His word with humility knowing that if our lives are out of line with what His word teaches, we need to make changes accordingly.
2. The right way to respond to God’s word is by being an informed doer of the Word of God.
22But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
Many think that this verse focuses only on doing, but that is not the case. There are two approaches that must be avoided when studying this text. The first, is to think that “What I do” is more important than “What I know” and the second is to reason that “What I know” is more important than “What I do.” Both are important. Believers are to be both hearers and doers of the Word of God. In fact, what we do for God should be in response to what we hear from Him.
James compares the Scriptures to a mirror with the only difference being that a mirror reveals what we look like on the outside while the Bible reveals what we are on the inside. James’ point is that it is not enough to look into the Scriptures and read them. We must respond to what we are reading—we must be doers of God’s word. When James says be doers, he is not talking about something we do on occasion. He is saying that this is to be a common feature of our lives as Christians.
James also says that the one who cautiously and carefully hears the Word of God and obeys it will be blessed. Many do not think of Obedience in this way. They think of it as being restrictive, but the ironic thing is that obedience leads to a joyful and blessed life.
There was a well-known Christian who lived around the 12th and 13th century by the name of Saint Francis. He was born and raised in a wealthy family and was promised to inherit the family fortune. He, however, felt God calling him away from a life of luxury to a life of Christian service. Francis lived and died with very few material possessions. Many might look at the wealth Saint Francis gave up and the amount of time he spent serving others receiving little in return and think, “What a miserable way to spend your life.” But he was a man of joy who was known to sing as he walked from place to place. He also had a band of followers who were attracted to his remarkable charisma and purity who, along with Saint Francis, found lasting joy through their relationship with God.
May this be true of us. May we experience lasting joy through devoting our lives to understanding and doing the will of God.
"The fact that James calls professing believers to be 'doers,' rather than simply to do, emphasizes that their entire personality should be characterized in that way. Professing Christians who are content with only hearing the Word have made a serious spiritual miscalculation." John MacArthur
After the crusades, Christianity took a turn for the better. During the 12 century, because of a renewed emphasis on education, there arose several prominent thinkers who argued that reason can be used to answer questions of the Christian faith. No Christian thinker was more influential during this time period than Thomas Aquinas.
What Augustine was to the early church, Aquinas was to the Medieval church. He believed that reason plays a huge part in faith--especially when arguing for the existence of God. Below is a passage taken from R.C. Sproul's book, The Consequences of Ideas.
PROOFS OF GOD'S EXISTENCE
The first proof Thomas offers is the proof from motion. He begins with the evidence for motion in the world. Borrowing heavily from Aristotle, Thomas argues that whatever is moved is moved by another (based on what we call the law of inertia)...Whatever is moved must be moved by some prior actuality. But this change cannot regress to infinity, because in that case the motion could never begin. Therefore, Thomas concludes, there must be a first mover, and everyone understands this to be God.
Thomas's second proof is the proof from efficient cause. The law of causality asserts that every effect must have an antecedent cause. This is not the same thing as saying that every thing must have a cause...If every thing must have a cause, then God himself would require a cause. The law of causality refers only to effects and is an extension of the law of noncontradiction. The law is formally true, because it is true by definition. An effect is defined as that which is produced by a cause. A effect cannot be an effect unless it has a cause. Likewise, a cause (properly speaking) is by definition that which produces an effect...An uncaused (self-existent) being violates no rule of reason; an uncaused effect, however, is irrational and absurd.
Thomas Aquinas's third proof of God's existence is the proof from necessary being. Although this is usually thought of as part of the cosmological argument, it is more properly called 'ontological,' because it is an argument from being...If anything exists now, then something must have the power of being within itself, that is, something must have necessary being. This being, whose being is both logically and ontologically necessary, is God.
Thomas's fourth proof is the proof from degrees of perfection, in which he borrows heavily from Augustine. This is an argument from the comparative. We are aware of degrees of the good, the true, and the noble. But something can be deemed good or true only against some maximum norm or standard...There must also be some thing which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection, and this we call God.
Thomas's fifth and final proof of God's existence proceeds from the evidence of order in the universe. This is a form of the so-called teleological argument. The term teleological comes from the Greek telos, which means 'end, purpose, or goal.'
In nature we observe things that lack intelligence but function in an orderly and purposive way. They act in predictable ways to achieve certain ends or functions...One cannot have purpose accidentally, nor can one have unintentional intentionality. In its simplest form the teleological argument rests on the evidence of design in the universe...Design demands a designer.Sproul, R.C. The Consequences of Ideas. Wheaton: Crossway Books. 2000. 70-74.
Last week while Chris and I were on a mission trip in Nicaragua, the front building of our church caught fire and burned to the ground. Although it has been difficult, I do not in any way want to compare myself with other believers who have truly suffered for the cause of Christ. I did, however, think it would be a good time to discuss why God's people suffer. The outline below is taken from a chapter in John Piper and Justin Taylor's book, "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God."
