Month: March 2013

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

What an impression the apostles made as they stood before this inquisition of the religious leaders of their day!  Oh, for such boldness in declaring our Savior that it may be said of those that hear us that “they marveled [and] they recognized them, that they were with Jesus.” (v. 13) Isn’t that the desire of the children of God?  Not that men might recognize us, but that they might know Christ and the effect He has had upon us!  These apostles were lightly esteemed in the eyes of men.  They were untaught and uneducated (v. 13), but the Lord uses such “earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” (2 Cor 4:7)

This confession by Peter and John was before the Sadducees, the religious party of the high priest and those who were involved in the administration of the temple.  They were a group that held great power and who doctrinally differed from the Pharisees on certain issues, particularly regarding the doctrine of the resurrection.  The Sadducees denied there was any resurrection, and so, even though a great miracle of healing had been performed through Peter, they were grieved that he “preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” (Ac 4:2) Many would have been intimidated by these religious giants, but not these former fishermen that were now filled with the Holy Spirit!  They knew well that the idea of a resurrection offended the Sadducees, and yet they boldly declared, “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.” (v. 10)

What an awful thought–there is no resurrection!  This false doctrine had made it into the Corinthian church, but the Apostle Paul rebuked them sharply for it.  Just listen as he entertains the thought for a moment in 1 Cor 15:16-19: “For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.  And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!  Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”  We are a pitiful bunch if this life is all there is!  “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:57) Many will celebrate the resurrection of our Lord this week, but it must not stop here.  We must walk in the “power of His resurrection” at all times!  Christ, who IS the resurrection (Jn 11:25), comforts His children with these words: “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.” (Jn 14:19)

I’m not sure if the resurrection is as unpopular today as it was to the Sadducees then, but there is certainly still much about the gospel that offends our present culture.  Our main text deals with such a topic–a topic for which I believe the church will increasingly come under fire if we faithfully confess it.  The disciples clearly declared that there was no “salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”  The relativistic viewpoint of our day says truth is subjective–you have your version, and I have mine.  The problem is that Jesus Christ was very close-minded on that point.  He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  There are not many ways to get to the same God.  As popular as that notion is today, it simply cannot be found in the inspired word of God.  May we possess the same boldness that the disciples did in their day to proclaim the simple truth that Christ taught us: “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (Jn 3:36) Perishing souls need the truth!  May we never give them a false hope.

Jamie

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing…Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
James 1:2-4, 12

After reading the post last week, a dear sister shared with me the verses above.  They remind us of the blessing of enduring suffering.  When my children were young, they would fight against my attempt to get a thorn out of their hand or foot.  They hadn’t learned that the brief, though more intense, pain associated with removing the thorn brought with it the reward of not having to deal with the longer pain of leaving the thorn lodged in there.  Aren’t we the same way with the Lord at times?  We run from the suffering of the present circumstance because we fail to see the blessing that’s coming as a result of it.  Jm 1:2 says we should rather “count it all joy”!  After all, aren’t you glad the Lord didn’t give in to the temptation to abandon suffering when the Jews cried out, “If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross”?  If He hadn’t endured, we would have no salvation!

Last time, we looked at three of five blessings that come as the result of suffering.  Just to recap, we saw that through trials 1) we are identified with Christ and enjoy unique fellowship with Him, 2) our spiritual man is developed, and 3) God draws us closer to Him and keeps us from sin.  Let’s now consider the final two points.  Through suffering:

4) The true believers are manifested

The children of God don’t like tension and strife.  One of the descriptions of the blessed ones in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is that they are peacemakers. (Mt 5:9) When separation and division occurs within the church, believers suffer, but did you know there is blessing in such experiences?  “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part, I believe it.  For there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you.” (1 Cor 11:18-19) The saints are suffering, but the trial brings the blessing of manifesting those that are true Christians!  John writes in 1 Jn 2:19: “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.”  Division is hard to deal with for those that love peace, but the church is blessed by it as tares are purged from among the wheat.  Jesus’ parable of the seed and the soils teaches us that the way an individual handles suffering will reveal the truth concerning a his profession of faith.  Suffering exposes the man who is a stony-ground hearer, “for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.” (Mt 13:21)

5) We are equipped to comfort others in their affliction

In Heb 2:17, we read that Christ in all things “had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God”. This experience was a new one for God as He entered the virgin’s womb, humbling Himself and experiencing life as one of us. The result of that suffering is listed in v. 18: “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Because He suffered temptation, He is well equipped to aid us in ours. Christ has been in our shoes! He has first-hand experience with our trials because He “was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Heb 4:15) This pattern is the same for the believer. We live in a pain-filled world. How can we minister to those that are hurting unless we endure the same? According to 2 Cor 1:4, it is through our suffering that we come to know the tender care of the God of all comfort, “who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Suffering equips us to minister to others in unique ways that we otherwise would not be able to do!

So, the next time suffering comes your way, dear child of God (and it will for “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God”–Ac 14:22), don’t be so quick to despair.  Instead, as our text today reminded us, we can count it all joy if we realize God’s got better things in store for those in Christ Jesus.  He’s bigger than the attacks made against us, and we, like Joseph, will see in the end that, though they meant it for evil, God meant it for good! (Gen 50:20) Believe me, the trial is small compared to the greatness of what God is accomplishing through it.  “Therefore we do not lose heart.  Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor 4:16-18)

Jamie

For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
1 Peter 3:17

There are many today that believe it’s not God’s will that we suffer.  They say God wants to continually bless us materially and physically but suffering comes when we force God’s correcting hand by sinning.  Our verse above tells a very different story.  The truth is that sometimes it’s God’s will that we suffer because we’re doing right!  Suffering is one of the tools God uses to spiritually bless us along with those around us.  Let’s consider the first three of five blessings that the Lord brings through suffering.  Through suffering:

1) We are identified with Christ and enjoy unique fellowship with Him

Have you ever prayed for God to make you like Christ?  Well, you’d better hang on!  Christ as a man benefited through suffering!  “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (Heb 2:10) It was God the Father’s will that the Son suffer.  Remember, He prayed to the Father in the garden for the cup of God’s wrath to pass from Him but quickly followed that prayer with, “Your will be done”. (Mt 26:39, 42) Guess who rejected the idea of His suffering in Mt 16:23?  He may have used Peter’s mouth to voice the words, but the thought came from Satan!  The point is that it is a satanic suggestion to say God’s people shouldn’t suffer.  We stand against the will of God in making such a statement for it is the pattern of our Master and our privilege to suffer for His sake: “For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake…” (Php 1:29) In such affliction, we enter into special communion with Him, an experience Paul called “the fellowship of His sufferings”. (Php 3:10) No wonder we read in Ac 5:41 that after being imprisoned, beaten, and threatened, the apostles went away “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name”!

2) Our spiritual man is developed

As a child, my drink of choice was milk with plenty of Nestle Quik.  I remember well finding a can of unsweetened Hershey’s cocoa powder one day when we had run out of Quik.  It looked and smelled a lot like Nestle’s powder, so I asked my mom if I could use it for chocolate milk.  She wouldn’t allow it, warning me that it wasn’t intended to be used that way.  Well, when she stepped out of the kitchen, I disregarded her instruction and made a cup anyway.  It wouldn’t even mix!  The chocolate floated to the top in clumps, and it tasted even worse than it looked!  When my mom walked back into the room, guess what?  She made me drink it!  I learned a valuable lesson that day–my mom knew more than I did, and it would be wise to heed her instruction.  Sometimes we just have to learn the hard way.  Suffering teaches us in ways that we could never otherwise learn.  As our opening text last time reminded us, sorrow has the power to make the heart better! (Ecc 7:3) Like my experience with Hershey’s cocoa, suffering is often the result of our disobedience, but how good it is to know that our heavenly Father only chastens us “for our profit”!  Sure, it hurts, but “afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness”. (Heb 12:10-11) Simply put, suffering benefits the child of God spiritually.  “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” (1 Pet 5:10)

3) God draws us closer to Him and keeps us from sin

Admit it…we rarely pray as hard as we do when times are tough.  Suffering casts us upon the Lord because, in those times, we’re well aware of our need of Him.  Sheep sometimes wander away, but suffering will quickly drive them back to the Shepherd of their souls!  “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word.” (Ps 119:67) Suffering keeps us close to God.  In speaking to Ananias regarding Saul of Tarsus (who we know better as Paul the Apostle), the Lord said, “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Ac 9:16) The apostle was well acquainted with suffering and understood that one of the reasons it was God’s will that it be in his life was to keep him from sin.  To insure he didn’t fall into the sin of pride, God allowed a demon to torment Paul even though the apostle asked three times to be delivered.  When he finally realized that the affliction was intended to keep him totally dependent on the Lord’s strength instead of his own, the apostle quit asking for relief and started rejoicing in the blessing of suffering!  “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.   Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:7-10)

Lord willing, we’ll pick up with the final two points next week.  Perhaps you’re in the midst of a difficult trial right now.  I pray the Lord will encourage your heart to know that suffering is not an odd place for the believer.  On the contrary, it is quite normal.  God is simply using that refining fire to burn off all the impurities and to fully conform you to the image of His precious Son.  He has glorious things in store!  “Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” (1 Pet 4:12-13)

Jamie