Getting God’s Viewpoint - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, November 22nd. A Christian is not immune to trouble, but neither is a Christian a victim of circumstance.

Let's learn more about this in today's podcast. When you are faced with a very crucial decision and you really want to do God's best, what do you do? When you are deliberately persecuted, what is your reaction? When you suffer disappointment, how do you respond? When you suffer great loss, how do you respond? I don't think any of us know exactly how we respond to some circumstances unless we've been there. But the key to the right response is always the result of having God's viewpoint. What is God's viewpoint in each of these circumstances?

How do we find God's viewpoint? If ever there was a man who suffered persecution, hardship, heartache, and all the rest that goes with it, the apostle Paul was the man. And it is absolutely amazing that as he writes, he writes as a man victorious, triumphant. We don't find self-pity.

We don't find a man who's looking for someone to feel sorry for him. We find a man who sees himself as a winner no matter what he faced. What was the key? How did he do it?

And here's what he did. He always viewed his circumstances from God's viewpoint. And that's the title of this message, Getting God's Viewpoint. And if you'll turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I want us to read three verses of this chapter, and I want to give you a little background to prepare us for what Paul is about to say here. In this fourth chapter, he's talking about his ministry. And the emphasis of it beginning in verse 8 through the rest of that chapter is the suffering that he has experienced as a result of a missionary, as a result of a statesman, an evangelist for Jesus Christ. So he begins this passage, and I want us to begin in verse 8 and then skip down to three other verses.

In verse 8, listen to what he says. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed. We are perplexed but not despairing. We are persecuted but not forsaken, struck down but not destroyed. Now look back, if you will, at afflicted. He says we are afflicted in every way, that is, suffering due to pressure of circumstances or the antagonism of other people. But he says we're not crushed by it. Perplexed, that is, confused and bewildered and puzzled about the circumstances, but do not despair over it. He says persecuted, attacked and rejected from all angles, but we do not feel forsaken by God.

Struck down, physical abuse but not destroyed by it. Now listen to what Paul says. He says, in fact, as we go about our life, we're always caring about in the body the dying, that is, the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then if you look in verse 12, he says, so death works in us but life in you. Here's what Paul is saying. As he suffered persecution, hardship, heartache and trial, as he bore that, as he suffered these trials from all outward appearance, it appeared that Paul was being mistreated, how unfair, how unjust, but Paul says the end result was this, that those who were his listeners, those who were his readers, those who were hearing about him, he says there was life being generated in them as a result of his suffering and his proper response to that suffering. Then he comes down to verse 16, 17 and 18 are the three verses I want us to concentrate on when we talk about getting God's viewpoint.

Listen to what he says. Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man, our spirit is being renewed day by day. For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. Then he says, while we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

So let me ask you this question. When you come to that decision and you want to do what God wants you to do, but you don't know what to do, how do you respond? When you suffer great disappointment, how do you respond? When you suffer physical pain almost to the point of being unbearable for seasons, how do you respond?

That is when life seems just to cave in. When you find yourself in a rut, in a valley, in a mode of persecution it seems, and there seems to be no way out, and everything about you seems to be impossible, how do you respond? My friend, you will never reach a stage in your life whereby all of your heartaches and troubles and trials and tribulations and burdens and sickness and suffering are going to cease. It doesn't make any difference if you're the most committed believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and your faith can move mountains, you're still going to suffer persecution, hardship, heartache because God's ultimate purpose in that is fantastic in its fruits. Paul said, as I suffer, he says you gain life. Now, what is God's viewpoint?

If you will listen to this message very carefully, if you will begin to make application in a very simple fashion, my friend, I assure you, your attitude is going to change. Your circumstances may be the same, but your attitude, your spirit, your responses, your reaction, the joy that you've been looking for is suddenly going to be there. In the midst of what seemed to be turmoil and animosity and hostility and an impossible situation, you're going to begin to praise the Lord. It's all to be found in these three very full jam-packed verses, verses 16, 17, and 18. And, my friend, the truth is you cannot afford not to listen. Paul says, therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. Now, he's simply saying, I have found the key to be able to endure anything and everything that comes my way. And here's the key. The key is I get God's viewpoint and I respond accordingly.

The first thing I want you to jot down is this. When we have God's viewpoint about our circumstances, we will, number one, we will face our circumstances with confidence. We will face our circumstances with confidence that God will see us through it.

Where is that? Here it is in verse 16. Therefore, we do not lose heart. We don't become discouraged. We don't want to give up and quit.

We don't want to leave the conflict. But rather, we have confidence and we have God's viewpoint. We are confident that we can face any circumstance because God is in my circumstances with me no matter what they may be. He says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. What did Paul say, for example?

My God shall supply all of your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. Why did he say I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me? Because in the pits of what would be despair for most people, he discovered God's viewpoint and began to understand he could endure any and every experience of life with confidence and boldness knowing that God was in it with him.

God's viewpoint is this. No matter what you're facing, I am in this with you all the way through it to and through the end of it, I am with you. And wherever there is the presence of God, there is the supernatural power of God to be released in that situation and circumstance no matter what it is. So the first thing that Paul says in the light of all of these sufferings, he says, therefore, we do not lose heart.

We don't have to lose heart when we have God's viewpoint and his viewpoint is I'm going to be with you all the way through it. No matter what, count on me. I am there to see you through it triumphantly. Whenever you and I view any situation from God's viewpoint, understanding and aware that he is with me in this. He knows all about my tears. He knows all about that terrible attack of doubt. He knows all about my frustrations, my hopeless, helpless estate when I know that he knows that and he understands that and he accepts me even amidst my doubts, I am confident. I'm going to come through this victoriously. When you read this passage here, there is no indication, no tone of somber, morbid, no tone of somber, morbid despair and defeat.

And here's the reason. Turn back to 2 Corinthians chapter 2, just go over one chapter there. Chapter 2 to verse 14 and listen to what Paul says. In the 14th verse, he says, but thanks be to God. Listen, who always leads us in his triumph in Christ and manifest reveals through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. You know what Paul is saying about that?

Here's what he's saying. He says, thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph. That is, listen, it is the nature of the Christian life to be victorious. It is the nature of the Christian life to be a winner, not one who is defeated. It is the nature of the Christian life to respond to circumstances from a positive point of view, not a defeated point of view.

And notice how he couches this. He says, in this particular passage, he says, leading us in triumph in Christ and manifesting, revealing, showing through us as we respond to our circumstances properly, through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place. Now, wherever we live, wherever we go, what are we leaving behind is not some aroma of perfume, but the aroma of the sweetness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We live and breathe on a whole different level and plateau than the unbeliever.

Wherever we are, listen, it should never be the same. He says, the sweet aroma of the wonderful knowledge of Jesus Christ that you and I have, so that no one should be able to absolutely totally ignore us. Not only our personality is saturated with Jesus Christ, but the truth we speak and what we permeate and what we radiate from our very life should be an encouragement to someone so that none of us can be so dull that we can be ignored.

They may not like us, but they'll have to reject us or accept us because the sweet aroma of the unconditional love of Jesus Christ is permeating the very society in which you and I live. That's what he's talking about. So therefore, we can face these things with confidence something good is going to happen. Number two, listen to what he says. Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outward man, this physical body is decaying and degenerating, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

So jot this down. When we have God's viewpoint, number two, we look beyond, listen, we look beyond our circumstances to the spiritual growth we're experiencing as a result of responding to our circumstances rightly. We look beyond our circumstances to the spiritual growth we're experiencing as a result of responding to those circumstances rightly. And notice how he says it here in the 16th verse. Though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

Now, what is he saying? Simply this, this physical body of ours as we get older is going to begin to suffer decay. We're going to lose some of our physical stamina and strength, our resiliency to face situations and circumstances in life.

But notice what he says. Now, he says, while on the outside, while the physical body is beginning to suffer some loss, he says, your inner man, your spirit is growing stronger, more resilient, firmer. There is more power within you. So that the older we get, while the physical body may lose some of its physical energy, the inner man, he says, is growing stronger and stronger. That's why we shouldn't run from difficulty, hardship, heartache, persecution, rejection, and criticism, but rather we ought to respond and understand that looking beyond what we can see on the outer man, you see what is happening in your circumstances and the pressures and the buffeting you're experiencing. You view that from God's experience, and that is this. While you are outwardly suffering, whether it is emotionally, mentally, physically, remember this, while your body and your mind and your emotions may be taking a beating, your spirit is growing stronger and deeper and more confident and more assured and more determined. Listen, in the aging process of the physical body, your spirit is becoming younger and stronger and more willing to take on, listen, the devil and the world than ever before because all of these things on the outside, when we respond properly, they just build us and equip us and strengthen us. He says the outer man is degenerating, but the inner man is becoming stronger and stronger with every passing day.

Now think about this. One of these days out there somewhere, our body begins to reach some peak and it begins to slide downward. Well, is that a time to say, well, I guess I'm over the hill. My friend, that is a poor statement for a believer. My friend, as a child of God, you're always on the upward climb, always on the upward climb.

There's no such thing as going down the hill. If you have a downhill syndrome, you don't have a scriptural viewpoint of your life or God's divine purpose for you because for most people, it's after they think they've done it all that God can begin to use them. He says, so you want to face your circumstances? Remember this, that no matter what is happening, he says look beyond the circumstances and understand that God is enriching you, deepening you, strengthening you, equipping you, making you more useful for him and making you stronger and stronger. Third thing I want you to jot down. Listen to what he says. Verse 17, for momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.

Third thing I want you to jot down. That is, when we have God's viewpoint, we measure every experience against the background of eternity. When we have God's viewpoint, we measure every experience against the background of eternity.

Now listen to what Paul said. For momentary light affliction, somebody says, wait a minute. You say, how can this be called momentary affliction? Do you know how long I've suffered? For five years I've had this disease. For 30 years I've had to lie on my back. For 15 years I've suffered this thing.

For 10 years I've been in this horrible mess. You see, we say, it's forever. God said, no, it doesn't make any difference what you and I experience. He says it's momentary.

Now let me show you why that's true. Let's say for example that you suffer some disease or some circumstance. Let's say that you're in one of those situations emotionally with someone. It's just a mess every day.

I mean, it's trying, it's difficult, it's painful, it's hard, you're criticized, you're rejected, whatever it may be. And there's no way out. You'd like to get out. You'd like to run a thousand miles, but you've decided to hang in there and be obedient to God, but you think, Lord, I think I'm going to leave tomorrow.

No, I'm going to wait until next week. In other words, you just want some way out. Or the pain is such that there seems to be no cure for whatever you're facing. Now think about this. You've been in it for 20 years you've been in that. You stretch those 20 years into 100 years. Well, it's not quite as bad. Into 200, it's not quite as bad.

500, a thousand. What's suffering? You know, 10,000 years.

Me suffering? Eternity. When you and I are able to see our suffering against the background of eternity, it's momentary. But on the other hand, let's take those 20 years of suffering and compact them into one second. The horrible intensity of the pain. In one second, you bear in one second whatever you've borne in 20 long years of suffering.

Now, there's a difference. But here's what Paul says. He says, you want God's viewpoint?

You want to be able to endure anything and everything God sends you where? He says, look, you look at it against the background of eternity. That 24-hour period, some crisis develops, you know, it's a lifetime. Sometimes 10 years is forever. Sometimes 20 years is an eternity past, an eternity future. It is forever either way you look at it. But God says, wait a minute. Here's how you'd look at it.

You'd look at it against the background of God's eternity. For our momentary affliction. Now, we're not talking about somebody who had a toothache once in a while. If you read the 4th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the 11th chapter of 2 Corinthians, and you have a biographical sketch of nothing but pain, suffering, hardship, persecution, and all the rest of the life of the apostle Paul, what is he saying? He is rejoicing and talking about he's a winner. He always triumphs. He is victorious. And everywhere you turn, he's doing nothing but facing suffering even unto death. Stoned at Lystra and left for dead. Here he is rejoicing.

Why? He has God's viewpoint. He's seeing these things as they are stretched out against the background of eternity, and they only are momentary against the background of eternity. Thank you for listening to Getting God's Viewpoint. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta, Georgia.