Suffering and the will of God.( 2Corinthians 4 v17-18 )2

Let us follow on  from last time and consider 1 Peter 4 v 19 which reads,'So then ,those suffer  according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good'.Consider the first part of this verse,'Suffering according to God's will', one may say,that cant be right, yes it is,God's purpose for Christ was suffering,our Saviour knew that, The hymn writer wrote ,'Every joy or trial, falleth from above',we like the first part as to the joy,but not the last part,the trials,but this is what we are being told can be the will of God for us.If we end up in prison for Christ ,we must see beyond the persecutors,to our sovereign God,and accept that it is part of His will for us.What should we do when we suffer according to God's will,we should do what our Saviour did, He glorified His Father ( John 17 v 1-5), we are to glorify God in everything,yes even in suffering.There is something else we should do,commit ourselves to our faithful creator,and continue to do good.A great example of that is seen in life of Joseph, when he ended up as a slave in Egypt,we read,'The Lord was with Joseph',(Genesis 39 v2) ,and when he was thrown into prison prison,we read,'The Lord was with Joseph',(Gen 39 v21)and he continued to do good. If we in the will of God are suffering,unjustly,we must not think He has left us,no He is a faithful creator,He is with us,and bear in mind that the suffering we may be experiencing are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us ( Romans 8 v18 )

                                                       'Every joy or trial falleth from above

                                                       Traced upon our dial, by the Sun of love

                                                        We may trust Him fully,all for us to do,

                                                        They who trust Him wholly,find Him wholly true'.

                                                                    Words Frances B. Havergal.

                                                        

 

Suffering ( John 15 v18 - 25 ) 1

In 1 Peter 4 v 18 -19 ,we read ,'if it is hard for the righteous to be saved. what will become of the ungodly and the sinner. So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their Creator and continue to do good'.The church that these words were written to,were suffering  ( 4 v12 -13) So lets consider them,what these verses mean,'if it is hard for the righteous to be saved,'Edmund Clowney writes the following,' The word for hard means ' with difficulty'; it does not imply uncertainty of the outcome but the difficulty of the road that leads to it.' There is a refining process taking place in every Christians life ,through the sufferings and trials which they will experience.(1 v 6-7 / Job 23 v 10), In  4 v 12,Peter tells them,'Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you'.Every day on Planet earth many of God's people are experiencing severe suffering,I read this recently ,'Around 45,000 believers have been killed by Islamists since 2009 in the North and middle belt of  Nigeria'.If your a Christian in many countries you suffer, and that's a fact. Our Saviour said, 'in the world you should have tribulation,' (John 16 v 33) That word for tribulation can involve a multitude of things that comes to us in life,it comes with the territory,but our dear Saviour said,'But take heart! I have overcome the world'.In Romans 8 v37 we read,'In all these things( trouble,hardships or whatever) we are more than conquerors through Him(Jesus) who loved us'.

                                                     'Through many dangers ,toils and snares

                                                      I have already come;

                                                      'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far

                                                       And grace will lead me home'.

                                                             ( Words John Newton)

Thy will be done. ( 1 John 5 v14 - 15 )

In Charles R. Swindles book .'The Mystery of Gods will  ,there are two quotations , the first one is by Arthur Ashe a former professional tennis player who died from Aids he contacted  during a blood transfusion, he was just 49,here is what he said,'' God's will alone matters, not my personal wants or needs.When I played tennis, I never prayed for victory in a  match.I will not pray to be cured''.The next one is by Henri Nouwen which reads,'In many ways ,you still want to set your own agenda. You act as if you have to choose among many things,which all seem equally important.But you have not fully surrendered yourself to God's guidance. You keep on fighting with God over who is in control.' As a  person who lost a young wife who died of cancer, I did pray that she may be healed,and so I  hoped against hope she would be, yet I received a scripture just before she died ,that indicated she would die.The disciples did not believe that Jesus was going to die,even though He told them,but He did ,because it was the will of God.It is not wrong to pray for a particular thing,as long as we bow to the fact ,in the words of our Saviour,' Thy will be done'.

                                                   'He always wins who sides with God;

                                                    To him no chance is lost;

                                                     God's will is sweetest to him

                                                    It triumphs at His cost.

                                                    I'll that He blesses is our good ,

                                                    And unblest  good is ill;

                                                    And all is right that seem most wrong,

                                                    If it be His sweet will.'  ( W B, Faber)

Flee. ( Revelation 20 v 15)

In some stores  one can read a notice which tells you,'When its gone its gone',it is referring to a sales item,if you want it, buy it now,for you wont  be able to buy it at that price anymore. I have a favourite pair of shoes they are stylish and comfortable,I wear them occasionally,for the same shoes are no longer available,yes when its gone,its gone.Now let us consider something far more serious,in Psalm 90 written by Moses,we have these words, 'So teach us to number our days,That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom',(v 12) In this Psalm it deals with' our sin,life's brevity,and God's wrath'.(Scroggie) Lets consider those three things,first sin, a word that has gone out of fashion,in a secular country were mankind's moral values  take first place,not God's.Sin is anything that is contrary to God's moral law,all unrighteousness is sinful,no matter how it is dressed up.The word of God makes it very clear what sin is, and as we will see,its has consequences.Next the brevity of life,we are told to consider how very important that is. we will all die sometime,Moses lived to 120 yet life at best is still very brief. Next let us consider God's wrath,  many do not want to consider it,but it is a fact,heaven is real, hell is real.The word of God says after death there is judgement. ( Hebrews 9 v 27) In Ps 90v11 we read ,'Who can comprehend the power of your anger? Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve', Nome of us can grasp God's wrath and its fulness ,it is something we need to fear (Matthew 10v 28)The only way we can escape God's wrath is by trusting  Jesus for salvation, if we die here  without having our sins forgiven,they will not be forgiven or overlooked by a holy God,only judgement awaits the unforgiven ,of that we can be sure.Likewise if we trust Jesus  heaven awaits us

                                                     'The soul that sins shall die!

                                                      My awful doom I heard;

                                                       I was forever lost!

                                                       But for Thy gracious word,

                                                       That ; whosoever will believe

                                                        Shall everlasting life receive.'

                                                                Words  A T .Pierso

                                                         

No guarantees. ( John 11 v25 )

 A lady who is tetraplegic who broke her neck in a riding accident in 2010, writes a column in a news paper every week gives an honest record how she copes,she's very brave, and one has to admire her,and of course I pray for her,she is not a Christian ,but who knows,yes who knows.Here is part of what she wrote in her column recently.'Like most people, when I was healthy,I  happily wrapped myself in expectations. You assume you will at least live as long as your parents, that you will remain happy and active until at some great age you will slip away in your sleep,brains and joints fully intact.But there are no guarantees. ' The heading on her column reads,' Just let me get to 70,please, and l'll be ever so grateful'. Yes there are no guarantees,that she will reach 70,there are no guarantees for anyone ,our days are numbered and it's God who is doing the numbering.Psalm 31 v 15,declares,'My times are in your  hands'. It is Spurgeon who says on this,''My times are in Thy hand ''- the hand of my Saviour' .These are wonderful words ,Herbert Lockyer wrote,'How slow we are to learn that His hand holds all our times!'I often take encouragement from the words of a hymn by John Ryland, 'Plagues and deaths around me fly; Till He bids,I cannot die; Not a single shaft can hit,Till the God of love sees fit'.It is wonderful to  know that when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we need fear no evil,for Christ will be with us whenever that will be.

The word of God. ( 2 Peter 3 v 1 -14 )

 Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a fugitive?,well if one studies the life of David you will get the idea.It all took place during the reign of king Saul Israel's first king, His reign started well but he began to act in  ways that didn't please the prophet Samuel or God.In 1Samuel 13 v 14,we read that he was going to be replaced by someone else,he was not told who that would be.So you can imagine how he felt ,he must have always been looking over his shoulder,thinking is he the one .God's replacement was to be David ( 1 Samuel 16)When David came on the scene he became a super star,and it came to a head when his fan club started to sing,with words that pierced Saul's heart Cp  1Samuel 18 v7. Saul has slain his thousands,  and David his tens of thousands'.Immediately Saul became angry and suspicious that this young man David was going to replace him, and he was right,and so began the reason that David became a fugitive .Saul was not going to give up his throne,from that moment on he sought to kill him David.He never would succeed although he would try time and time again to do so ,God's word would be fulfilled,David would become king,Gods word will always be fulfilled,nothing can stop the purposes of God. Before our Saviour died and rose again,and ascended to heaven,He declared to His disciples,'I will come back and take you to be with me'.(John 14 v 3),we do not know when,but it will happen, let us live in light of that great and wonderful event.

                                               'He's coming soon,He's coming soon,

                                               With joy we welcome His returning,

                                               It may be be morn,it may be night or noon,

                                                We know He's coming soon.'

                                                     Words  Thoro Harris.

Don't run away. ( Psalm 50 v 15 )

 Scroggie calls, Psalm 55'An Ode of the Oppressed' it is a Psalm by David, who is in dire straits, so David did what he often did, turned to prayer. It was a desperate prayer for a desperate situation and it is in those situations the prayerless pray, there is some  truth in the saying,'There are no atheists in  foxholes'. But David wasn't an atheists he was a man of God and a man of prayer,well how does he feel in  this desperate situation?.After all he was a mighty warrior, a man after God's heart, we have a very honest record as to how he felt.Here are some of the words that describe how he felt, 'troubled ,distraught,anger,anguish ,horror,trembling'.In light of that, he says,'Oh ,that I  had wings of a dove, I would fly away and be at rest',and more words to that effect.Let us take our eyes of even godly people,and let us be honest  there are times that we are overwhelmed by the problems we face,and we just cry like David,I want to be out of this,I need a rest I can't bear it no more.But then David  changed his focus, and bringing  to his God all those who were causing him such pain. Yes it may seem easy to flee,but as Scroggie says,'it is rarely noble'.So he stands his ground,an example to all of us,to not give up the fight,and tells us to do this very important thing,'Cast our cares on the Lord,and He will sustain us; He will never let the the righteous be shaken'v 22. He ends the Psalm with these profound words,' But as for me,I trust in You'.

                                                       'What a friend we have in Jesus,

                                                       All our sins and griefs to bear;

                                                        What a privilege to carry .

                                                         Everything to God in prayer.'

                                                               Words Joseph Scriven.