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January 30, 2020 9:00 am
Today on Senate life with JD.
Sometimes God breaks you because you want you to learn to trust in him and the affliction is not punishment the affliction simply say they try to get your attention. To tell you that I'm enough meds while allowing this pain so when you're flat on your back and look in the right direction down very comforting. But we will always know how God is working in their suffering. We know from the Bible that we can trust to think about. First, the cross shows us that he hasn't forgotten us in.
Second, the resurrection shows us that he always finishes what he started. Say pastor Janie reminds us how and why we can have joy in the midst of our suffering Saturday title this message from Romans chapter 5. This changes everything you have God that is better than happiness, and it's better than whatever your Michigan life. Joy comes when you know that what God promised you in his word is more secure than anything you guarantee in your own and his presence is even better than all the things you would like for life to be bosses.
Romans chapter 5 verse three. Not only that, but we even rejoice in our afflictions because we know that affliction produces endurance. Placing the phrase you want. Rejoice in my afflictions. What on earth. What that means. Also got a masochist where he rejoices in pain for pain Saker your bills like it shows you how tough he is and how righteous he is. No, this is rejoicing in affliction because you know you know that affliction no matter how bitter, no matter how terrible is producing something in you that is of greater value than even a pain-free life would be Glisson Christians are not Stoics. A lot of people get this confused they think the Christians are supposed to be Stoics as stoic as somebody who is unmoved by pain. I don't ever cry. I'm just detached. You can't hurt me, that is Buddhism, not Christianity. Buddhism teaches you not to feel pain by detaching yourself from the world and by the way the other way of saying this is not really loving anything Christianity pushes you the opposite direction. Christianity tells you to love more deeply, and because of that Christians feel pain more deeply than probably anybody else should I think about Joe who Job after he lost his health, his family and his livelihood was his response was mom's face is a wonderful, positive, encouraging today and bless you brother no. He ripped his clothes off he put ashes on his head. He falls to the ground and screams and rage at God. Not much of us. We shall Job do another goal. Somebody needs a faith recharge Job, you better check your heart, you better let go and let God not know why you love the things of the world so much Joe but it shouldn't affect you that much, but Job did not sin because our going through pain does not preclude deep, deep pain don't go through life like a Buddhist feel the pain, sometimes even rage.
God, yes, do it with faith is not supposed to be. Were you just detached from this, but even in those things you can trust God because you know even that God is up to something ultimately good and some of that good that he is up to is in you. We know Paul says that affliction produces endurance. Endurance is the ability to keep going when you are experiencing here. This no other earthly benefit from your faith. Endurance is the ability to keep going even when nothing else in your life is going right when your finances are being multiplied among the jobs not coming through in the marriage and getting better and you're not feeling any better but you say God is worth it. That's both talking about. That is, endurance is a test because God sometimes wants to know why are you actually following me if you have been a number of blessings in my life.
I'm so thankful for that. My family my wife my job you all just my health and all those things.
God loves even those blessings with sometimes there's a question there's a question of like, hey, is this why are you following me and it is an affliction that reveals that it produces in the endurance as is God. You are enough whenever campus pastors on Peter Park shared this with me early this week I asked for his permission to shared back in 2010 when I first came on staff on the pastoral team of the summa church is not prayed something that I now think was absolutely foolish. I pray that God would teach me to walk closer to him by showing me what it meant to suffer well anyways I wish I'd never pray that prayer and I would never tell somebody else to do that because the next year was the hardest year of my life when my best friends died of leukemia. My wife and I lost her daughter that year. For months we were in the hospital more often sleeping in the hospital than we did.
Even our own home. I hated that season, and it's taken me years even to talk about it. But God walk with me during that time and I learned what Paul is saying here in Romans five and that is that affliction produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, is probably the most beautiful. The most painful lesson I've ever learned in my life. There are some things that you learn an affliction that you really don't learn and the other way or think you're the words of Corrie 10 boom, the Nazi concentration camp survivor. I never knew that God was all that I needed until he was all that I had another thought affliction showed to me or give you one more here Robert Smith hello this point. Faith is stripped to the bone, no Marrow, no tendons, no muscles, no fat, no crystal, no earthly benefits at all, or props, or crutches, or gone our faith in God that he is good and that he is still on the throne is the only thing that will keep you going. It is affliction that produces that conviction. It produces things in you that you can learn in no other way. Martin Luther again who study this book launch the Reformation. He said there are three things that make for a great theologian. One is knowledge of the Scripture to with a lot of prayer three is affliction. He said you never really know God until you been to that furnace of affliction. In fact, speaking of his own experience.
He says this one. My favorite quote of his.
I credit the devil. The Pope and all my other persecutors with my deep knowledge of the word to the devil's raging. They turn me into a pretty good preacher driving the end of the gospel to deaf son never would have reached without their afflictions suffering in the believer's life is like the cold that triggers the furnace in your house to come on you know how this works right, you and your spouse. By the way, this is always lumber first marriage fights because your meeting. Your spouse will turn on 78 melon on 62, but whatever it is that you gotta settle on when it, the cold didn't slow the temperature.
This furnace kicks on all this wonderful warm air pours out of the vents now. The cold is not producing the warm air furnace to produce in the warm air, but the cold is triggering the furnace to come on in. Paul is saying in a similar kind of way. That's how faith works is that when the cold of suffering Linda cold of persecution or affliction comes into your life. That furnace of your faith kicks on and pours new experiences of trust and confidence.
And yes, even joy in God that you may not have ever experienced. Apart from the cold and the colder the temperature gets, the hotter the furnace gets in the colder the suffering. A lot of times the harder the furnace in your life will burn up and it will produce in you endurance and endurance will then turn into proven character, proven character means character that is gone through the furnace of affliction and have those impurities burned away. Peter is going to the apostle Peter to take the same concept that come at it from a slightly different angle. He's gonna say when you suffer when you suffer your faith for faith, which is more precious than gold is being refined like gold is refined so that it will result in praise, glory and honor the revealer of Jesus Christ appears referring to a process back then, by which they provide gold they would heated up to the point basically boiling and because gold become a melody as it would not evaporate doorway. But every other impurity.
All the other minerals, all the other defilements would burn out of it Peterson. That's what God is doing to your faith in your faith, or mixed all kinds of things you got things here depending on debt that you really should be bidding on God has of God sometimes allows this furnace of affliction to purify you so that you can't do it and say I love God and God is another one. I appreciate all these blessings and hurt when they're not there God you are sufficient for me and suffering God might be in might be in again. I don't know what's going on in your life but in suffering God might be trying to print out some bad habit. That's one of the Psalm says one place before I was afflicted I went astray and after you afflicted me. That's when I learned to depend on you remember learning in ancient Israel. One of the practices they have for she that would wander if she just kept wandering to get getting lost, the shepherd would break one of the legs on the front legs of the sheep, which of course is unbelievably painful for the sheep but it was an act of cruelty every break a leg. Several put the sheep on his back and for the next two or three months without leg healed he would carry him from place to place anything at the greater burden is on the shepherd is always having to carry this this evil happen they say and there's two or three months is that she would develop a real affection for the shepherd and that she would also learn that everything that she needed to be happy in the thriving life was wherever the shepherd was and so when that was healed and was put back down it would never wander away again.
Sometimes God does that in your life. Sometimes God breaks you because you want you to learn to trust in him and the affliction is not punishment. The affliction is simply saying hey try to get your attention. To tell you that I'm enough and that's why I'm allowing this pain so when you're flat on your back, you look in the right direction.
Maybe it's it's that there something in your life that you're growing, you're going to depended on a goddess is trying to shake. That made me maybe it's not even that's what you doing anything wrong that God just wants to teach you more about himself. Use the image here of the ancient Japanese tribe who used to shatter a pot after they'd made the pot shattered on the grounds that, while they do that.
It was a process of this research is referred besides process called consumer I can suggest we Japanese Wiccans are you means golden repair that was other famous works with irreducibly shattered. It may pick up always little pieces and they take melted gold and they would put the pot back together so that now the pot is more valuable for having them broken piece together with gold and it was before it was ever broken. To begin with. Now the flaws are a part of the unique character of the pot and now the pot is able to tell a story and show that this gold makes it stronger than it was before it was broken. You see what suffering does is it allows God to infuse the gold of his presence into the broken places the broken seams of your life and that whole process is designed to teach you hope hope hope the assurance of God him keep his promise. The assurance of a nothing else is working out right there is resurrection coming the assurance that God is never left your for sake you can, a goddess kept his promise to work all things together for good and bad. Hope all set one home will not disappoint you, but with the implication there. Both he and that is he's a man that's familiar with a lot of other hopes disappointing you most of us were more hopeful people, but how many hopes we have a disappoint you. Hope that this relationship can satisfy the dog you hope this new job can be everything that you wanted to be a minute and let you down.
You hope this trend will never betray you or let you down, but he or she does some of you are hopeless because you're optimistic.
I just let your character quality on I am a little bit like dad. This optimism is the assumption that tomorrow will be better than today just because it's tomorrow the sun will come out tomorrow to Diana's note how you know that it is marginally worse. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but how do you know why optimism is so hope that will ultimately disappoint some of your hopeful because you have this inspiring idea that whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger and yeah I mean I can inspire but I'm like yeah I can see how painful things may be stronger but it's sometimes you do things and it actually wound you you care that will with you for the rest your life in this book is actually finished for an alkyl can't hurt me when by Navy seal and it's the story of how all these painful experiences as I went to a light made him into the manicure. Now wouldn't recommend the book to you because of a lot of profanity in it, but it's inspiring the stories inspiring about how all this stuff were but I'm reading this book and just thinking yeah I realize that some of this happens, but that sometimes you encounter wound. You can't shake and sometimes people do permanent damage to you and hate one day your body. Just eventually dies you're not always going to overcome.
You can go through life with a can't hurt me attitude. Because yes, life can hurt you when you make never fully recover. That's a hope that disappoints some of you seek hope by medication through drugs and alcohol or sexual stimulation or materialism. You know that always ends badly is when it is unhappiness of driving you to drinking or or or sex or or materialism. They use things turning the toxic destructive poisons in your soul because your soul was not designed to feed on them.
They are not valid places of hope pulses. I have a better hope than any of those things I can hope it will not disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in my heart to the Holy Spirit was given was the first mention of the Holy Spirit, the book of Romans and what you notice what he's doing is a lot of people confused by the Holy Spirit, which is purpose's purpose is to pour out the love of God in your heart when you have another moment with the Holy Spirit. You will becoming more aware of who you are in Christ and the greatness and finality of his love for you. That's what the fullness of the spirit looks like the knowledge of uses is like a father walk along with his five-year-old son holders and will send his son get swept up in this bodily emotion son spend the sun around who's my boy I'm so proud of you. I love you, you know, the sons giggling and then this father-son moment. Here's a question is that kid anymore.
His father, son, legally, that he was the moment before statushasnotchangedatall,buthisperceptionofthathaschanged.TheHolySpiritcomesintoyourlife.Paulsays,andhecreatesthisawarenessthatIamachildofGodandIaminthefavorofGodandthelotattimesthiscanhappeninthisoverwhelmingmomentlikeinworshipandsometimesthiscanhappenmoreoftenascanhappentogentleremindersasGodteachesyouwhatisloveinyourlifemeans.That'swhyPaulgoesonfromthere.Nottotalkaboutanecstaticexperiencebutitwasonfromtheretobegintoexplainthelogicofthecrosspiecesyousee,whilewewerestillhelplessattherighttimeChristdiedfortheungodly.Rarelywillsomebodydieforajustpersonthereforagoodperson.Somebodymightevendaretodie.Here'salogicpulsegivingislikeit'spossibleit'spossibleweknowofstorieswheresomeheroicpersonofferedhislifeorsomebodythattheyloved,butGod'sloveisdifferentandthatGod'sloveisnotlikethosethings.Infact,Godproveshisownloveforusinthatwhilewewerestillsinners,Christdiedforussinnersbelievers10pollsgiveusaenemieswhenwewereanenemy.That'swhenGoddiedforusandpausesnobodyelseiseverdonethatthatGodlayingdownhislifeformeisnotlikemelayingdownmylifeformychildren.Godlaiddownhismewaslikemelayingdownmylifetosaveaterroristwhohadmurderedmychildren.IimaginesometerrorsmurdermychildrenandIshowupincourtthedaythedisguisecanbesentencedtoprisonforlifeandIshowupandIsaytakemeinsteadletthisguygobacktohisfamilythinkyouhaveallmyallmymoneyallmyfortuneallmineheredidn'ttakeitallgostartlifeoverandI'llgoingtoprisonandserveouthistermfortherestofmylifeisthatonewhowoulddothat.That'sPaul'spoint,nobodywoulddothatbutthat'swhatGoddidforyou.That'swhatGoddidwhenhetookyoufromthestatusofenemyandthroughhisdeathturnedyouintoasonordaughter.Howmuchmorethanthiswouldnotbeendeclaredrighteousbyhisblood,howmuchwillwebesafe,wrotetohimfromwrath.Maybetheongoingrapidsexistingintheworld.Ofcoursenot.GodisnotraffledtowardareportouthiswrathinJesusforitwhilewewereenemieswewerereconciledtoGod.Thedeathofhissonandhowmuchmore,havingbeenreconciled,arewecanbesavedbyhislifesavedbyhislifemeans.ThisisJesus'sbloodsecuredmyforgiveness.Thereisresurrectionguaranteesthatwhathehasstartedhewillcompletehislifeprovesthathehasn'tleftmethislifeprovesthatheisstandingbythethroneofGodrightnowmakingsurethatIwillneverbecastawayonneverbeforgotten.Makingsurethatwhatheisstartinghe'sgoingtocompleteandthathewillneverleavemeorforsakeme.Onedayhe'storesurrectmethatI'mtobelikehim.WhatIthinkthisbeforethethroneofGodabovewhatwesing.Ihavestrongperfectly.Agreathighpriest'snameislovewhoeverlivesandpleadsforme.Mynameiswrittenonhishand.MynameisgraveandonhisheartandIknowthatwhileinheavenhestandsnotonguecanbidme,that'sthepart.WhatthatmeansisI'msavedbyhislife.I'msavedbythefactthattherehestandsthismorningandwhileheisstatingthereistheproofthatGodisnevertoletmego.He'snevertoforgetmeandheistocompletewhathestarted.Idon'tknowwhatGodisdoinginyoursuffering.Ican'tknowyoucan'tknowwhatIknowpeoplesometimesamiablepastor.WhatisthissufferingmenowisthatIdon'tknowhownoble.WhatIdoknowIknowitcan'tme,thecrossshowsmethatitcan'tbethegoddessforgottenyou,becausewhenyouresentmethatsomeguycameforyou.Itshowsmethatitcan'tbethatGodisnotinvolvedinyourlifeisaresurrectionprovesthatheisinvolvedinyourlife.Sowhateveritmeansitcan'tmeanthatyourforgottenorGodnotinvolved.YoumayneverfigureoutexactlywhatGodisdoinginthepainfulchapterJohnPiperthewayhesaysitisatanygivenmoment.Godisdoingabout10,000differentthingsinyourlifeandyouareaware,usuallygoeswithaboutthreeofthem.Theother9997.Thingsaretotallymissedreunion.Ihavefiguredoutwhatyoucanknowinthatmoment'sisthatthecorelogicofthecrossshowsmethatIwassavedwrathbyhisdeathbesavednowthroughhislifeandhisresurrectionprovesthathehassomecaringthathehadn'tforgottenandthatheisnotabsence.Heisinvolved.ThatmeansyourjoyandsufferingisthemeasuretowhichyoureallybelievethegospelisthemeasurewhichyoureallybelievethatyourpeaceofGodoverTimKellersaysyourbeliefinthegospelismeasuredbyyourabilitytohavejoyandsufferingnowandtellyouthisisnotsomethingthatcancomenaturallytoyouifyoucenterfieldlikewellthisislikeIjustneedto.That'swhatPaultalksaboutisalearningprocesswentawaybackinversethreewerejoicebecauseweknowwhichchoiceisachoice.Itisachoicetoremindyourselfofwhatyouknowthechoicetorejoicealsosaythechoicetoworshipisnotafeelingthatnaturallyrisesupinyou,manytimesthechoicetorejoiceinthechoicetoworshipisindefianceofyourfeelings.It'samazingtomehowmanytimestheBiblecommandsustoshouttorejoiceintheworship40differenttimesinthePsalmswassupportiveornot,youareinstructedtoraiseyourhandsinworship,suchthatonemotiontoraiseyourhands.Whywouldhetellustorapemelikewithyoufeellikeyoushouldwriteyouranswers.Goddoesn'twanttobeauthenticiswhyComanchecasinosarenotalwaysyoufeellikeandworshipisnotsupposedtobeareflectionofyourfeelings.WorshipismostlyadeclarationofwhatyouknowtobetruetothetimethatIneedtoraisemyhandsiswhenIdon'tfeellikereasonIwritesomeofuscomeinherelikewhydon'tlayoutalotofunanswereddoitifitdidn'tfeelauthentic.That'sexactlywhenyouneedtodoitbecausewhatyou'redoingistosay,I'mdeclaringwhatIknowtobetrue,eventhoughinmyheartIdon'tfeellikeit'strue.Iknowit'strue,declared,letmyfeelingsconformtowhattherealitiesofthegospelareworshipisnotadepictionofyourfeelingsworseisadeclarationofwhoGodis.Okaysomeofuswhenwecomeinhereandit'sontheworstofmelookinghardtohowIfeel.Idon'tfeelsimulatingareusuallylookingatthewordofGodislookingupwardsandsaynothowIfeelaboutwhatistrueandthenI'mgoingtoevenhavemypastareflectthatbecauseanythingalittlesecret.AlotoftimesyourheartoftenyourheartwillfollowyourposturewriteanythingaboutwhenIamsometimesIgetonmykneesandIprayisasillyfeelsubmissive,butIfindalmostalwayswanttogetonmykneesfeelsubmissivebecausemypostureisgotintheheartinthesameindustrywillliftmyhandsmycovenantifyoulikethis.MaturelarvaearepowerfulandI'mopenandI'msurrenderedandsuddenlymyheartfollowsalongwiththatyoudon'tfeelyourwayofyourworshipyouworshipyourweightierfeelings.See.SowhenweworshipweputGod'struthondisplaytoourselvesandtoothersthroughsuffering.Sufferingisawayofdefiningyouridentityontheonthekidtherebyoverlooksonthedivorceonthepersonwho'sillandprobablynottogetbetteronthevictimworshipisindefianceofthosefeelingsandsayyes,sufferingisapartofmystory.Thesufferingisnotthewholestoryandit'sontheendofthestorywhoIamisdeterminedbythewordofGodwhatmyfutureisdeterminedbythepromisesofGod.God'sloveformeisdeterminedbythecross,thehopethatnothinginlifeisdeterminedbytheresurrectionbeforethethroneofGod.I'vegotastrongperfectlyandIknowthatwhileinheavenhestandsknowTomcanbidme,that'sthepartofthosewhobelievethegospelisjoybusiness@jdgreer.com.
You'll find resources and you can send us a note to let us know how we can be praying for you messages part of our overview of the book of Romans D study Romans.
In the past I've noticed that Paul references the Old Testament Scriptures a lot yeah course, the New Testament didn't exist.
At least it didn't exist before the polls caring around the leather bound volume with the Gideons when Paul wanted to make a point from Scripture really show that what he was saying was built what God had already said he reached for the Old Testament right when you're studying Romans is important to pay attention to when and how Paul uses the Old Testament around his. His argument arose, arguments, strange word to use when you talk about the Bible but it really is.
It is a logically right premise by premise explanation why God did what God did with us in Jesus and why we the church have to tell everybody about it.
Romans 39 through 18 is a great example to prove that everybody is on righteous before God. Not only does he give examples of of what that looks like he reaches back Old Testament versus just one after another, is essentially basically saying is a got this not anything new.
I'm just simply taking clear, I am feeling, what has always been there in the Old Testament we get a lot more into this in our new resource study on the Romans. The first Bible study first nine chapters, it's a collection the first election of three studies, will be giving out throughout the year, you get the first part in the box that will house all rebooked really really well done.
Very attractive you go to JD where.com and reach out to us. We would love to help get that into your library and the slave asked him what I think you need anything to support this ministry that more people can dive into the gospel with daily basis in class when we call 860-335-2833 520 study when you donate online dating career.com.
Be sure to do anything and I continue our series in Renton