All Christians, including those who are afflicted with cancer or sons with traumatic brain injuries or who suffer lonliness or any other form of suffering must pray the Lord's Prayer on a daily basis, for this is the reason for which Jesus gave us the prayer. He has told us what God wants to do for us and then he commands us to ask God to do that which he wants to do. The first thing we pray as I pointed out in my previous post is that God would so work that his name, his reputation would be seen and delighted in and promoted by us and all other believers and throughout the whole world.
The second thing which Jesus commands us to ask God to do is this: "Let your kingdom come." The advance of God's kingdom takes place through more and more people submitting their lives to king Jesus. This is a prayer that we and all whom we know bow the knee to the rule and reign of Jesus who is the exalted king over God's kingdom due to his obedient life, willind death and glorious resurrection. HIs kingdom will one day come fully and completely and visibly to this world when he comes again. However, between now and then his kingdom comes, it grows by means of the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom, the good news that Jesus has made a way for traitors like us to be forgiven and loved and made full members, citizens of God's kingdom through the regenerating work of the Spirit which produces repentatnce from sin and trust in Christ in us.
Thus we pray for God's kingdom to come when we pray that God would by his Spirit and word give new life to dead sinners thus bringing them under the gracious rule of Jesus and under his protecting power. We pray that God would establish his kingdom in the lives of our chidlren and other family members, in the lives of those who belong to our churches, in our friends, neighbors, co-workers, indeed our whole community. We pray for God's kingdom to come when we pray for the advance of the gospel among the nations through the missionaries that we know and those we don't know. We pray for God's kingdom to come when we pray, as John did at the end of his Revelation, "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely a am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!" So it is right for us to ask the Lord Jesus to come and establish the kingdom of God upon this earth, visibily and fully and finally.
The third thing that we also pray is that God's will would be done on this earth right now as it is right now being done in heaven, where God lives. God's will is first of all his will to save a people for himself through Christ. This has been God's overarching will and purpose since before he created the world. It is his will to sum up all things in Christ. It is his will that people from every tribe and tongue and language and nation be a part of his people, joining him in that joyful fellowship of eternity. Thus, this prayer has much in common with the preceding prayer. We daily ask God to finish the work, to bring the gospel to all the nations so that his plan to save a people for himself out of all the nations of the world would be completed.
However, God's will also refers to his moral will for his chosen people. We pray that we and all believers would obey God here like the angels obey God's will in heaven. We want to obey God and we want other believers to obey God. The new covenant promise as stated in Ezekiel 36 is that when God gives us spiritual life that his Spirit comes to live in us to "cause us to obey his laws." Thus we ask God to make us willng and able to obey every command he has given to us just as he promised in the new covenant which Jesus purchased with his own blood. Whenever we hear or read a command that God makes to his people we turn it into a prayer for ourselves and for other believers. We agree with the prayer of St. Augustine who prayed: "Lord, command what you will and give what you command." This is the daily prayer of all true Christians for themselves and for the church at large. When we read or hear a command given to us by God we immediately ask God to make us willing and able to do what he commands. This is what we pray whether we have cancer or are healthy. When we pray like this we will discover that we increasingly obey God and that our fellow believers increasingly obey God's will. It is as we pray the Lord's Prayer that we begin to see God doing all that he wants to do, causing his name to be treated as holy, sending his kingdom throughout the world, causing his people to obey his commands as the angels obey him in heaven.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
What to pray when you have cancer I
I recently led a small group bible study in which we reflected on the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). One of the things that struck me about the prayer which Jesus taught us to pray is that it does not have any qualifications attached to it. For example he doesn't say "Pray like this, except when you have cancer or except when you feel depressed or except when you have a bad spouse or except when you've lost your job or...., you fill in the blank. In this prayer Jesus is telling us the things that God wants to do for us. His word to us is this: Here is what my heavenly Father wants to do for you, so ask him to these things. A further implication is this: what this prayer teaches us is what we ought to want. We should compare the things we pray for with this prayer and whatever we want God to do that does not fit with or in any of these petitions should not be asked as whatever it is you are asking is not God's will, it does not fit with prayer offered in the name of Jesus.
Another implication of this prayer is that no one can honestly pray it unless he or she has been born again by God's Spirit. The only people who want all the things Jesus commands us to pray are those whom God has given new hearts to, taken out their hearts of stone and put his Spirit in them to cause them to love and live his will. Just think about the first petition: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name." That is a prayer that first of all assumes that the person praying is a member of the church of Jesus as the "our" refers to the church, the company of people who have been rescued from hell and for God by God's grace through faith. If a person has not been born again, saved by grace through faith, then they are the enemies of God and of God's church (Romans 3:9-18, 5:10, 8:7-8, John 15:18-21, 16:2-3). Thus they would never truly, from the heart call God "our" Father. Thus also, they would never pray that God's name be treated as holy, as glorious. Non-believers hate God and would never want his fame to grow, would never want him to be admired and respected and loved by more and more humans.
Expecting a non-believer to pray that our Father's name be treated as holy would be like expecting a family member of one of those killed in the 9/11 attacks to start a fan club for Osama bin Laden and work hard to get the US government to pardon him and welcome him into the US with a ticker tape parade and to distribute public service announcements highlighting what a good man he was and how we ought to love him and respect and put his picture in all our homes. Thus the only people who can honestly pray this prayer are those who have been given new hearts by God, contrary to what they deserve and therefore these regenerated people now trust and love God and so want what God wants and so they ask God to do the things he has told us in the Lord's prayer that he wants to do.
As I pointed out the first thing Jesus wants us to ask the Father to do is pray that his name, his person be regarded and treated as if he is the only absolutely unique, sovereign, just, gracious king of the universe. As God says repeatedly throughout the Bible, his ultimate purpose in all that he does is the glory of his own name (Isaiah 43:6-7, 48:10-11, Ezekiel 36:20-27, etc.). His aim to is to show his glory and thus be glorified by all of creation. As Dr. John Piper, following the great theologians of the church's history, demonstrates, "God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied in him" (I would highly recommend that every Christian read Piper's two basic works, "Desiring God" and "The Pleasures of God". His other books are also very helpful.).
God's objective is to persuade us that he is all we need because he is the best being in the universe. This is what we are asking God to do in his world, to show off his greatness in such a way that more and more people see his greatness, chiefly as it is revealed in the gospel of Jesus and thus trust and love and desire and rejoice in him alone. We are also praying for ourselves and all who belong to the church to discover the sufficiency and beauty of the Triune God in deeper ways so that our lives show that he is glorious, he is all we need.
Thus a person who has cancer, or is undergoing any kind of suffering needs to pray this first petition. I need to pray that in and through this cancer Jesus would become more glorious to me and that through me others would see the greatness of Father, Son and Spirit and thus desire him for themselves. Over the next several days, as I have strength, I will write about what we are to pray in each of the other petitions so that all of us, whether we have cancer or are healthy will be asking God to do his will which he has clearly described for us in the Lord's Prayer.
Another implication of this prayer is that no one can honestly pray it unless he or she has been born again by God's Spirit. The only people who want all the things Jesus commands us to pray are those whom God has given new hearts to, taken out their hearts of stone and put his Spirit in them to cause them to love and live his will. Just think about the first petition: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name." That is a prayer that first of all assumes that the person praying is a member of the church of Jesus as the "our" refers to the church, the company of people who have been rescued from hell and for God by God's grace through faith. If a person has not been born again, saved by grace through faith, then they are the enemies of God and of God's church (Romans 3:9-18, 5:10, 8:7-8, John 15:18-21, 16:2-3). Thus they would never truly, from the heart call God "our" Father. Thus also, they would never pray that God's name be treated as holy, as glorious. Non-believers hate God and would never want his fame to grow, would never want him to be admired and respected and loved by more and more humans.
Expecting a non-believer to pray that our Father's name be treated as holy would be like expecting a family member of one of those killed in the 9/11 attacks to start a fan club for Osama bin Laden and work hard to get the US government to pardon him and welcome him into the US with a ticker tape parade and to distribute public service announcements highlighting what a good man he was and how we ought to love him and respect and put his picture in all our homes. Thus the only people who can honestly pray this prayer are those who have been given new hearts by God, contrary to what they deserve and therefore these regenerated people now trust and love God and so want what God wants and so they ask God to do the things he has told us in the Lord's prayer that he wants to do.
As I pointed out the first thing Jesus wants us to ask the Father to do is pray that his name, his person be regarded and treated as if he is the only absolutely unique, sovereign, just, gracious king of the universe. As God says repeatedly throughout the Bible, his ultimate purpose in all that he does is the glory of his own name (Isaiah 43:6-7, 48:10-11, Ezekiel 36:20-27, etc.). His aim to is to show his glory and thus be glorified by all of creation. As Dr. John Piper, following the great theologians of the church's history, demonstrates, "God is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied in him" (I would highly recommend that every Christian read Piper's two basic works, "Desiring God" and "The Pleasures of God". His other books are also very helpful.).
God's objective is to persuade us that he is all we need because he is the best being in the universe. This is what we are asking God to do in his world, to show off his greatness in such a way that more and more people see his greatness, chiefly as it is revealed in the gospel of Jesus and thus trust and love and desire and rejoice in him alone. We are also praying for ourselves and all who belong to the church to discover the sufficiency and beauty of the Triune God in deeper ways so that our lives show that he is glorious, he is all we need.
Thus a person who has cancer, or is undergoing any kind of suffering needs to pray this first petition. I need to pray that in and through this cancer Jesus would become more glorious to me and that through me others would see the greatness of Father, Son and Spirit and thus desire him for themselves. Over the next several days, as I have strength, I will write about what we are to pray in each of the other petitions so that all of us, whether we have cancer or are healthy will be asking God to do his will which he has clearly described for us in the Lord's Prayer.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
God's good gifts
When I went to the cancer center on Monday to have blood drawn for lab tests I had a brief conversation with the nurse. I'm getting to know all the "chemo nurses" in the center as they each take turns giving us our treatment when we cancer patients come to the center. I told her that we had just received good news. Our second, married son and his wife are going to have our fifth grandchild (It is their fifth child as well.) in November. Also, our fifth child and second oldest daughter became engaged to be married to a fine young man the previous Friday. The nurse responded by cheerfully saying that here were some good things happening in the midst of the difficulty of cancer and its treatment. Her comment got me thinking. She is absolutely correct in that both of these events are good gifts from a good God in the midst of much trouble. This is a small example from my life of the reality that we all live in. We live in a world that is both filled with all manner of suffering and trouble and evil and we live in a world that is full of good gifts from a good God.
I've written quite a bit on this blog about God's purposes in sending the trouble. So I thought in view of these two good gifts which our family has received I would think some about God's purposes in sending us these good gifts. First of all it is important to emphasize that every good gift comes to us directly and personally from the hand of God. This is one of the most often repeated facts in the Bible. Here are just a couple of places where we see this: James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." The apostle Paul when preaching the gospel to idol worshipping Greek people said this about the only true and living God: Acts 17:24-25, "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything."
I love the concise way that Paul sums up the sovereign and gracious glory of God. He is not served by humans. We have nothing he needs. We cannot supply anything he lacks. Rather he gives to each and every human life. Just think about it: did you do anything to contribute to your birth? You did nothing but rather God gave you life. Every human being on the planet who has ever lived God decided personally and graciously to give life, to cause to be born into the world. None of us did anything to deserve to be born. Life is a good gift from the hand of God himself. But not only does he give each of us life, he also gives each of us breath. You ever think about breathing? Do you do anything to keep yourself breathing? Eight hours out of every day you can't think about breathing because you are sleeping and yet you keep breathing. Why do you and I keep breathing? Every breath that every human takes is given personally to us by God himself. God is directly and immediately involved in the life of every human being because he is at this moment and every moment of every day deciding and then giving each and every breath to every human being. Over six billion people on this planet and God directly gives each and every breath to each and every person each and every day of the year.
Finally, God gives us everything. What does "everything" encompass? You cannot name anything in your life that God did not give to you. Your parents, your family, your ethnic heritage, your intelligence, your work ethic, your financial condition, your home, your clothes, your food, your friends, your country, the world you live in, your Xbox, and the list goes on. In another sermon to idol worshipping Greeks Paul says, Acts 14:17, "He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." He not only gives us these good gifts but fills our hearts with joy. He is repeating what King Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes that God not only gives us all things but he gives us the ability to enjoy the gifts. He fills our hearts with joy. All the pleasure we have ever experienced in this world has been given by a kind and sovereign and gracious God.
The important thing to recognize is that all this is a gift. That means we don't deserve these things. We didn't earn them. They are not a reward for good behavior but simply an expression of the goodness and kindness of God. Why does God give us good gifts? I'll mention three reasons today and possibly more in the future. First, God gives us these enormous creation gifts to demonstrate that he is a great and glorious being with whom we ought to be enormously impressed and to whom we ought to always give thanks (Romans 1:20-21, Acts 14:15-17, Acts 17:24-27). Second, he shows us such kindness so that we will repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone and find all our happiness in him and his love for us rather than in the gifts of creation (Romans 2:3-4). Third, he showers this kindness on all humans indiscriminately so that Christians will understand how to love their enemies and so imitate their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:43-48).
I've written quite a bit on this blog about God's purposes in sending the trouble. So I thought in view of these two good gifts which our family has received I would think some about God's purposes in sending us these good gifts. First of all it is important to emphasize that every good gift comes to us directly and personally from the hand of God. This is one of the most often repeated facts in the Bible. Here are just a couple of places where we see this: James 1:17, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." The apostle Paul when preaching the gospel to idol worshipping Greek people said this about the only true and living God: Acts 17:24-25, "The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything."
I love the concise way that Paul sums up the sovereign and gracious glory of God. He is not served by humans. We have nothing he needs. We cannot supply anything he lacks. Rather he gives to each and every human life. Just think about it: did you do anything to contribute to your birth? You did nothing but rather God gave you life. Every human being on the planet who has ever lived God decided personally and graciously to give life, to cause to be born into the world. None of us did anything to deserve to be born. Life is a good gift from the hand of God himself. But not only does he give each of us life, he also gives each of us breath. You ever think about breathing? Do you do anything to keep yourself breathing? Eight hours out of every day you can't think about breathing because you are sleeping and yet you keep breathing. Why do you and I keep breathing? Every breath that every human takes is given personally to us by God himself. God is directly and immediately involved in the life of every human being because he is at this moment and every moment of every day deciding and then giving each and every breath to every human being. Over six billion people on this planet and God directly gives each and every breath to each and every person each and every day of the year.
Finally, God gives us everything. What does "everything" encompass? You cannot name anything in your life that God did not give to you. Your parents, your family, your ethnic heritage, your intelligence, your work ethic, your financial condition, your home, your clothes, your food, your friends, your country, the world you live in, your Xbox, and the list goes on. In another sermon to idol worshipping Greeks Paul says, Acts 14:17, "He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy." He not only gives us these good gifts but fills our hearts with joy. He is repeating what King Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes that God not only gives us all things but he gives us the ability to enjoy the gifts. He fills our hearts with joy. All the pleasure we have ever experienced in this world has been given by a kind and sovereign and gracious God.
The important thing to recognize is that all this is a gift. That means we don't deserve these things. We didn't earn them. They are not a reward for good behavior but simply an expression of the goodness and kindness of God. Why does God give us good gifts? I'll mention three reasons today and possibly more in the future. First, God gives us these enormous creation gifts to demonstrate that he is a great and glorious being with whom we ought to be enormously impressed and to whom we ought to always give thanks (Romans 1:20-21, Acts 14:15-17, Acts 17:24-27). Second, he shows us such kindness so that we will repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone and find all our happiness in him and his love for us rather than in the gifts of creation (Romans 2:3-4). Third, he showers this kindness on all humans indiscriminately so that Christians will understand how to love their enemies and so imitate their Father in heaven (Matthew 5:43-48).
Friday, May 18, 2012
Listen to this
I just listened to Pastor Ligon Duncan's sermon delivered at the 2012 "Together for the Gospel" conference in Lousiville. Whaat a wonderful exposition of God's purpose in our suffering from the life of Elijah. I would highly recommend you listen to it. It is an hour long. You will not have wasted your time. Here is the link: http://t4g.org/media/2012/04/the-underestimated-god/
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Escaping self-pity
The temptation to self-pity is very large for those who suffer. "Why me?!" is often heard on the lips of those in pain. The intensity of the cry increases as sufferers see how pain free are the lives of so many other people. Particularly if you are person who has sought to be faithful to Christ and you see people who have no concern for Jesus doing very well, while you are subjected to difficulties. Fortunately for us God knows us so well and he inserted a psalm written by a believer in exactly this situation. Psalm 73 starts well but quickly goes downhill into self pity. Here are the opening lines:
"Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind." You can see where he is going. Wicked people flourish in spite of their wickedness.
After 7 more verses of describing the prosperity and arrogance of the wicked he says this about himself: "All in vain have I kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence. For all the day long I have been stricken and rebuked every morning." All I have recieved for my faithfulness is trouble. I'm stricken and rebuked every day even though I have sought to faithfully follow the Lord. Does this sound familiar? I think every believer has been here on ocassion.
So where does he go from here? How do you get yourself out of the self-pity trap? First, he did a really smart thing, he did not give voice to his pity, except to the Lord. He exercised self-control and kept his mouth shut because he knew that this kind of talk will spread like wildfire. He knew that if he sowed these seeds of unbelief and grumbling he would have betrayed God's people and caused all kinds of chaos. In our voyeruristic, put it all on Facebook world, we would do well to follow his example. Being honest and authentic doesn't mean you say everything you think.
At the same time he acknowledges that understanding why it is that the wicked flourish while those who trust in God suffer is a very difficult thing to figure out. The obvious injustice that is in the world is hard to square with a sovereign, good, just God. But then he says, I went into the sanctuary. He went to the temple of God. He says that it was while in the temple that he discerned the true end of the wicked. This is what he figured out: "Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms." What he realizes is that their prosperity is temporary. There is a time coming when God will arouse himself and at that time they are destroyed in a moment, forgotten like a dream, swept away by terrors, despised as phantoms.
Now, what did he see in the temple that informed him of the end of the wicked? He doesn't specifically tell us but we do know what is going on in the temple. Animals are being sacrificed as payment for sins in the temple. He sees and smells death in the temple. Blood is everywhere and a fire burns on the altar of burnt offering continually. He is reminded that the wages of sin is death. The temple reminds us that God's wrath is real and that all sin deserves death.
His thoughts then turn from what is going to happen to the wicked, to all who do not trust in Christ, to his own situation. First he realizes that even while he was immersed in self-pity and questioning the goodness of God (He calls himself a brute beast with an embittered heart), yet God was still with him. God was holding him by the right hand and guiding him with his counsel. His sinful questioning did not cause God to abandon him. He is certain that God will hold him and in the end bring him into glory. In other words, he understands his situation is also temporary. The knowledge of that grace causes him then to see reality.
"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to abe near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works." The suffering believer eventually comes to see that to belong to God, to have God himself as our refuge and portion and strength means that we can lose everything this life can give us and yet have lost nothing. Being near to God is all that matters. He is what makes heaven, heaven and he is better than everything on this earth. It was in seeing the shadow of the cross revealed in the temple that enabled him to see reality. Christ died for us so that we will know that to belong to him is the best thing in the universe. He did not die to give us an easy life on this earth, to make heaven on this earth but to bring us to glory, to that eternal home where he will be everything to us.
The fact is that without the trouble we will not learn this. We need the trouble to show us that to be near God is what matters, not to have a trouble free life on this earth.
Friday, May 11, 2012
How does God comfort us?
In my last post we saw that one of God's good purposes in our suffering is so that we might be able to comfort other Christians who are suffering with the same comfort which we received from God (2 Corinthians 1:3-10). In fact, Paul is so bold as to say about he and his fellow workers in Christ, "If we are afflicted it is for your comfort and salvation and if we are comforted it is for your comfort... (v.6)" Thus Paul views one of the reasons for his suffering and then the comfort he receives from God in the suffering the comfort and salvation of others.
The question I have and I trust you do as well, is this: how did God comfort Paul? How exactly does God comfort us in our afflictions? This is very important for us to understand so that when we are in trouble we will know what we can expect from God in the way of comfort. It is also important because we will be able to pray more wisely and specifically for others who are in trouble, rather than just praying something generic like: "Lord, please comfort my suffering brother/sister in Christ."
The passage tells us two ways that God comforts us. First, God comforts us through the presence and care and verbal encouragement of other believers. This is a basic assumption of the entire passage. God expects that Paul is going to be able to comfort the Corinthians, that is why God comforted Paul, so he can by his words in this letter and eventually by his presence with them, bring God's comfort to them. This point is confirmed because of what Paul says about himself and his traveling companions in 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 & 13. Look at what he says: "For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn--fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.... Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all."
Paul and company came to Macedonia, which is north of Greece, the country in which Corinth is a leading city. When he came to Macedonia he was being afflicted both externally and internally. He was embroiled in some kind of controversy with others and he was afflicted with emotional distress, with fear. What he feared we are not told but all of us know how troubling fear can be. While in this troubled state the God who comforts the downcast, those in trouble like Paul, comforted Paul by the coming of his fellow worker and friend and apprentice pastor, Titus. Titus had just been in Corinth. While Titus was in Corinth, he had been comforted by the Corinthians, his spirit had been refreshed by them. Thus Paul was comforted by Titus reporting how earnest the Corinthian church was to follow Jesus. Thus, it would appear that some portion of Paul's fear had to do with the church in Corinth. But God's comfort came to Paul by the presence and encouraging words of Titus who himself had been comforted/refreshed by the Corinthians.
It is very easy for those who are suffering to wonder where God is at in the midst of the trouble. We can even complain to the people around us that God doesn't care when the fact is that he is showing his concern through the people he has sent to you. We who are currently suffering need to receive the presence and encouraging words of others as if God himself were present and speaking to us because he is. By God's grace I have found great comfort in the presence and words of my wife and children and children-in-law and my extended family and by the many friends who have written and called and texted and emailed. People have been the means of God's comfort to me in great measure.
The second way God comforts us can be seen in 2 Corinthians 1:9. Paul writes about the suffering he experienced in Asia (This was prior to going to Macedonia): "Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Paul was comforted in the midst of the most extreme suffering, he was certain he was going to die right then, by the promise of God in Christ to raise him from the dead. God comforted him by the promises of the gospel. God, by his Spirit, reminded Paul of what Paul knew to be true and this comforted him. He knew that the trouble he was in was only temporary and could not separate him from the love of God to him in Jesus, nor take away that inheritance which Christ had purchased for him.
The question I have and I trust you do as well, is this: how did God comfort Paul? How exactly does God comfort us in our afflictions? This is very important for us to understand so that when we are in trouble we will know what we can expect from God in the way of comfort. It is also important because we will be able to pray more wisely and specifically for others who are in trouble, rather than just praying something generic like: "Lord, please comfort my suffering brother/sister in Christ."
The passage tells us two ways that God comforts us. First, God comforts us through the presence and care and verbal encouragement of other believers. This is a basic assumption of the entire passage. God expects that Paul is going to be able to comfort the Corinthians, that is why God comforted Paul, so he can by his words in this letter and eventually by his presence with them, bring God's comfort to them. This point is confirmed because of what Paul says about himself and his traveling companions in 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 & 13. Look at what he says: "For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn--fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.... Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all."
Paul and company came to Macedonia, which is north of Greece, the country in which Corinth is a leading city. When he came to Macedonia he was being afflicted both externally and internally. He was embroiled in some kind of controversy with others and he was afflicted with emotional distress, with fear. What he feared we are not told but all of us know how troubling fear can be. While in this troubled state the God who comforts the downcast, those in trouble like Paul, comforted Paul by the coming of his fellow worker and friend and apprentice pastor, Titus. Titus had just been in Corinth. While Titus was in Corinth, he had been comforted by the Corinthians, his spirit had been refreshed by them. Thus Paul was comforted by Titus reporting how earnest the Corinthian church was to follow Jesus. Thus, it would appear that some portion of Paul's fear had to do with the church in Corinth. But God's comfort came to Paul by the presence and encouraging words of Titus who himself had been comforted/refreshed by the Corinthians.
It is very easy for those who are suffering to wonder where God is at in the midst of the trouble. We can even complain to the people around us that God doesn't care when the fact is that he is showing his concern through the people he has sent to you. We who are currently suffering need to receive the presence and encouraging words of others as if God himself were present and speaking to us because he is. By God's grace I have found great comfort in the presence and words of my wife and children and children-in-law and my extended family and by the many friends who have written and called and texted and emailed. People have been the means of God's comfort to me in great measure.
The second way God comforts us can be seen in 2 Corinthians 1:9. Paul writes about the suffering he experienced in Asia (This was prior to going to Macedonia): "Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." Paul was comforted in the midst of the most extreme suffering, he was certain he was going to die right then, by the promise of God in Christ to raise him from the dead. God comforted him by the promises of the gospel. God, by his Spirit, reminded Paul of what Paul knew to be true and this comforted him. He knew that the trouble he was in was only temporary and could not separate him from the love of God to him in Jesus, nor take away that inheritance which Christ had purchased for him.
God's word and the promises he has made to us in it are the chief source of God's comfort to us. This is one of the reasons it is so important for us to learn this word, to devote ourselves to reading it, memorizing it, meditating upon it. You may not ever be troubled in the ways that I and my family have been troubled but you are going to face trouble. Your ability to stand and to be comforted in the trouble will be directly connected to your knowledge of the promises of God. I have no question that I would not still be a Christian if not for the fact that I knew God's word and the promises which he has made to us in Christ when the trouble struck. God's promises are the source of my comfort and hope.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
The God of all comfort
Here is another passage that talks about God's good purposes in the suffering of his children. Let me quote the passage in full and then we'll talk about it. 2 Corinthians 1:3-9 (ESV), "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort. For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead."
First, the two titles that Paul gives to God: "Father of mercies" and "God of all comfort" mean that God is the Father of every believer who gives to us every kind of mercy that we need. He takes pity upon us and provides us with every kindness we need. And also he is the God who provides every kind of comfort that we need. Especially, as Paul continues this Father who is God provides his mercies and his comforts to us when we are afflicted. We will come back to how God comforts us in a moment but for right now we come to the first of two purposes for affliction in our lives. This first one is that God comforts us in our afflictions so that we can comfort others who are in any affliction. That word "any" is critical. Paul is not thinking about just persecution here but any affliction, any trouble that a believer finds himself or herself in, God provides comfort so that you can then comfort others in the same way that God has comforted you.
Thus, one of God's good purposes in sending various kinds of trouble to his children is so that we will learn how to help others who are afflicted know the wonder of God's love and mercy in their lives. Paul goes on to say that we, that is, all Christians share abundantly in Christ's sufferings. If you have followed this blog you will recognize here the same language we saw in Romans 8:17. The sufferings of Christ that we share in are all the sufferings, all the miseries that come as a result of living in this fallen and cursed world. Notice, as we've seen repeatedly, we share in these sufferings abundantly. But also, Paul says, we also, through Christ, share abundantly in God's comfort.
Now Paul returns to the previous point, the reason he and his companions are afflicted is for the comfort and salvation of the Christians in Corinth and if they are comforted it is for them as well. Paul recognizes that all his trouble and all his comfort from God is meant by God for the service of others. It is through the suffering and God's comfort in that suffering that he is able to help other believers be comforted in their afflictions as well. This is so helpful to know when you are suffering that God has designed the suffering and the comfort you receive from him in the midst of it so that you can be of benefit to others in their sufferings.
Now he comes to the second purpose for God's sending afflictions. He tells them that the afflictions which he and his companions experienced in Asia (modern Turkey) were so intense that they had given up hope of continued life, they were sure they were going to die. However, he says, God sent such intense, hope destroying affliction to them so that they would learn to not trust themselves, not to rely on themselves but to trust in God who raises the dead. We see it here again that God sends the trouble to make us look away from ourselves to him alone. He aims that we trust and hope in him alone because he alone has the power to raise us from the dead. So too, his purpose in the trouble is to get us to look past the comforts and pleasures of this planet and to look forward to the new heavens and the new earth. Through the trouble we feel the temporariness of this present world and look forward with greater longing to being with the Lord forever in our resurrected bodies and in this restored universe.
I'll write tomorrow about how it is that the Lord comforts us in our afflictions and thus how we comfort others who are in affliction.
First, the two titles that Paul gives to God: "Father of mercies" and "God of all comfort" mean that God is the Father of every believer who gives to us every kind of mercy that we need. He takes pity upon us and provides us with every kindness we need. And also he is the God who provides every kind of comfort that we need. Especially, as Paul continues this Father who is God provides his mercies and his comforts to us when we are afflicted. We will come back to how God comforts us in a moment but for right now we come to the first of two purposes for affliction in our lives. This first one is that God comforts us in our afflictions so that we can comfort others who are in any affliction. That word "any" is critical. Paul is not thinking about just persecution here but any affliction, any trouble that a believer finds himself or herself in, God provides comfort so that you can then comfort others in the same way that God has comforted you.
Thus, one of God's good purposes in sending various kinds of trouble to his children is so that we will learn how to help others who are afflicted know the wonder of God's love and mercy in their lives. Paul goes on to say that we, that is, all Christians share abundantly in Christ's sufferings. If you have followed this blog you will recognize here the same language we saw in Romans 8:17. The sufferings of Christ that we share in are all the sufferings, all the miseries that come as a result of living in this fallen and cursed world. Notice, as we've seen repeatedly, we share in these sufferings abundantly. But also, Paul says, we also, through Christ, share abundantly in God's comfort.
Now Paul returns to the previous point, the reason he and his companions are afflicted is for the comfort and salvation of the Christians in Corinth and if they are comforted it is for them as well. Paul recognizes that all his trouble and all his comfort from God is meant by God for the service of others. It is through the suffering and God's comfort in that suffering that he is able to help other believers be comforted in their afflictions as well. This is so helpful to know when you are suffering that God has designed the suffering and the comfort you receive from him in the midst of it so that you can be of benefit to others in their sufferings.
Now he comes to the second purpose for God's sending afflictions. He tells them that the afflictions which he and his companions experienced in Asia (modern Turkey) were so intense that they had given up hope of continued life, they were sure they were going to die. However, he says, God sent such intense, hope destroying affliction to them so that they would learn to not trust themselves, not to rely on themselves but to trust in God who raises the dead. We see it here again that God sends the trouble to make us look away from ourselves to him alone. He aims that we trust and hope in him alone because he alone has the power to raise us from the dead. So too, his purpose in the trouble is to get us to look past the comforts and pleasures of this planet and to look forward to the new heavens and the new earth. Through the trouble we feel the temporariness of this present world and look forward with greater longing to being with the Lord forever in our resurrected bodies and in this restored universe.
I'll write tomorrow about how it is that the Lord comforts us in our afflictions and thus how we comfort others who are in affliction.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Delivered from afflictions
I am not sure what proper etiquette is on a blog, even if there is such a thing as proper etiquette. I have not written a post for a week. Should I apologize? That seems rather presumptuous and perhaps even arrogant as I would then be presuming that someone might be offended or disappointed in my not writing. I was not able to write for the past week as the only energy I had was given to study and then writing of my sermon together with keeping up with emails and caring for my disabled son on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. I am not sure if it was a worse week than before. I think perhaps I'm just weary of feeling sick. Anyway today I'm at work and feeling better but still woozy and not 100%.
Yesterday, during the reading of the Scriptures at church a verse really caught my ear and my eye. We read half of one of my favorite psalms, Psalm 34. The verse that caught my ear was v. 19: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." The entire psalm reflects the reality of this statement. The psalmist, who is righteous, talks about his fears and his troubles throughout the psalm. So this is a verse that fits the reality of the psalmist: the righteous have many afflictions.
"The righteous" refers to those individuals who are in right standing with God. This is one of the most common ways in the OT of describing the people of God, those with whom God is well-pleased, who are going to spend eternity with him. God is righteous and thus to be a righteous person is to have met God's standard, to be acceptable to him. However, there is a problem in the OT use of this language because the same OT, indeed, in the same book, Psalm 143:2 we are told, "no one living is righteous before you." In Psalm 14:1 God says, "there is none who does good." Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." There scores of verses that repeat this same theme: there are no good or obedient or righteous humans. So, how can the psalmist talk about himself or anyone being righteous?
That is where the next verse comes in which immediately caught my ear and eye after v. 19 did. Psalm 34:20 reads, "He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken." What this verse says is that God prevents all the bones of "the righteous one" to whom v.19 refers from being broken. Now the apostle John writes this in his gospel (19:31-36), "Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth--that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken."
John tells us that the reason Jesus' legs were not broken by the soldiers as they broke the legs of the other two men is because God had written, through his prophet David, in Psalm 34:20 that not one of the bones of the righteous one would be broken. Thus the person who is praying this psalm and to whom this entire psalm is referring is Jesus, David's greater son, the Messiah. Jesus is the only actual righteous human to have ever lived upon the face of this planet because he is the only human who ever perfectly obeyed God's law.
So how are we supposed to read this psalm? Jesus is the one who has fulfilled everything this psalm and every other psalm says. Thus, whenever we read these prayers, that is what the Psalms are, we must always read them first as the prayers of Jesus, the righteous one. Then, if we are united to him by the work of the Holy Spirit through faith in him, we read them as our prayers because we are righteous before God because Jesus obeyed the law in our place and suffered the death we deserve for all of our disobedience. Thus, I and every believer in Jesus can read this psalm and every psalm as the "righteous one" because we are righteous in God's eyes through our faith in Jesus. To use NT langauge, we have been justified, declared not guilty but perfectly righteous in God's sight, through our faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21-31, 5:1-11, etc.).
Thus, it is true for me and for every believer that we have many afflictions. This is in perfect agreement with what the apostle Paul said in Acts 14:22, "...through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God." We should never be surprised by the suffering and pain and trouble we experience in this life because God has told us that we should expect it. However, the key question is this: God has said that he delivers the righteous from all their afflictions; when and how does God do this? What does that mean? Does that mean I can count on not dying of cancer? Does that mean that my disabled son is going to be miraculously healed and made whole again?
That is where knowing that this psalm is first about Jesus is so important. How and when did God deliver Jesus from all his afflictions? He delivered him from his afflictions after he suffered and died and went to hell for us; when he raised him from the dead and glorified him. Thus, because I am righteous in Christ, I can know with absolute certainty that I will be delivered from my cancer at the resurrection from the dead. It may be that I will not die from this cancer and that is what I pray. However, I need not fear the cancer because whether or not I die from it, I will most certainly be delivered from it at the resurrection from the dead, just like my Savior was delivered from his afflictions at his resurrection.
Yesterday, during the reading of the Scriptures at church a verse really caught my ear and my eye. We read half of one of my favorite psalms, Psalm 34. The verse that caught my ear was v. 19: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all." The entire psalm reflects the reality of this statement. The psalmist, who is righteous, talks about his fears and his troubles throughout the psalm. So this is a verse that fits the reality of the psalmist: the righteous have many afflictions.
"The righteous" refers to those individuals who are in right standing with God. This is one of the most common ways in the OT of describing the people of God, those with whom God is well-pleased, who are going to spend eternity with him. God is righteous and thus to be a righteous person is to have met God's standard, to be acceptable to him. However, there is a problem in the OT use of this language because the same OT, indeed, in the same book, Psalm 143:2 we are told, "no one living is righteous before you." In Psalm 14:1 God says, "there is none who does good." Ecclesiastes 7:20 says, "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." There scores of verses that repeat this same theme: there are no good or obedient or righteous humans. So, how can the psalmist talk about himself or anyone being righteous?
That is where the next verse comes in which immediately caught my ear and eye after v. 19 did. Psalm 34:20 reads, "He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken." What this verse says is that God prevents all the bones of "the righteous one" to whom v.19 refers from being broken. Now the apostle John writes this in his gospel (19:31-36), "Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness--his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth--that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken."
John tells us that the reason Jesus' legs were not broken by the soldiers as they broke the legs of the other two men is because God had written, through his prophet David, in Psalm 34:20 that not one of the bones of the righteous one would be broken. Thus the person who is praying this psalm and to whom this entire psalm is referring is Jesus, David's greater son, the Messiah. Jesus is the only actual righteous human to have ever lived upon the face of this planet because he is the only human who ever perfectly obeyed God's law.
So how are we supposed to read this psalm? Jesus is the one who has fulfilled everything this psalm and every other psalm says. Thus, whenever we read these prayers, that is what the Psalms are, we must always read them first as the prayers of Jesus, the righteous one. Then, if we are united to him by the work of the Holy Spirit through faith in him, we read them as our prayers because we are righteous before God because Jesus obeyed the law in our place and suffered the death we deserve for all of our disobedience. Thus, I and every believer in Jesus can read this psalm and every psalm as the "righteous one" because we are righteous in God's eyes through our faith in Jesus. To use NT langauge, we have been justified, declared not guilty but perfectly righteous in God's sight, through our faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21-31, 5:1-11, etc.).
Thus, it is true for me and for every believer that we have many afflictions. This is in perfect agreement with what the apostle Paul said in Acts 14:22, "...through many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God." We should never be surprised by the suffering and pain and trouble we experience in this life because God has told us that we should expect it. However, the key question is this: God has said that he delivers the righteous from all their afflictions; when and how does God do this? What does that mean? Does that mean I can count on not dying of cancer? Does that mean that my disabled son is going to be miraculously healed and made whole again?
That is where knowing that this psalm is first about Jesus is so important. How and when did God deliver Jesus from all his afflictions? He delivered him from his afflictions after he suffered and died and went to hell for us; when he raised him from the dead and glorified him. Thus, because I am righteous in Christ, I can know with absolute certainty that I will be delivered from my cancer at the resurrection from the dead. It may be that I will not die from this cancer and that is what I pray. However, I need not fear the cancer because whether or not I die from it, I will most certainly be delivered from it at the resurrection from the dead, just like my Savior was delivered from his afflictions at his resurrection.
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