[The following is a full manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 5th of June, 2016. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
I think even a casual visitor to our service could tell from our prayer needs that we are a family that has been through a lot. Maybe each of us, on an individual basis, has not faced a terrible ordeal lately, but we know someone who has. Many in this church family are suffering still - many sitting here this morning.
And sometimes we just can’t help but wonder why. Sometimes we sink into that deep, dark pit of despair.
The Apostle Paul understood trials and tribulations as well as anyone in our Bible, for he faced so many in his service to our Lord Jesus. Listen and follow along as I read to you from his letter to the Romans, chapter 5 verses 1 through 6, from the New Living Translation, as Paul offers us assurance and gives us hope…
And sometimes we just can’t help but wonder why. Sometimes we sink into that deep, dark pit of despair.
The Apostle Paul understood trials and tribulations as well as anyone in our Bible, for he faced so many in his service to our Lord Jesus. Listen and follow along as I read to you from his letter to the Romans, chapter 5 verses 1 through 6, from the New Living Translation, as Paul offers us assurance and gives us hope…
1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.
6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
--Romans 5:1-6 (NLT)
Let us pray… Father God, we come into Your presence this morning to worship You and to pay heed to Your word. Please help us receive and understand the message You have for us, that we might better discern Your will and Your blessings in our lives. In the glorious name of Your Son Jesus we pray. Amen.
Many years ago Dr. A. Parnell Bailey wrote a religious column for the Goldsboro News-Argus in Goldsboro, NC. Dr. Bailey once included this little story in one of his columns:
"I once visited an orange grove where an irrigation pump had broken down. The season was unusually dry and some of the trees were beginning to die for lack of water. The man giving the tour then took me to his own orchard where irrigation was used sparingly. 'These trees could go without rain for another two weeks,' he said. 'You see, when they were young, I frequently kept water from them. This hardship caused them to send their roots deeper into the soil in search of moisture. Now mine are the deepest-rooted trees in the area. While others are being scorched by the sun, these are finding moisture at a greater depth.'"
The trees Dr. Bailey described had been deprived of water in their developmental stage on purpose. This was not an act of cruelty or some punishment. It was done knowing that harsh times would come when water would be scarce. It was done so the trees would push their roots deeper into the soil, seeking out the precious water of life. It was done so that they might survive.
Paul talks about problems and trials and great tribulations because he personally knew all about problems and trials and great tribulations! He experienced them first hand. He was tortured, beaten, stoned, flogged, shipwrecked, imprisoned, chained to guards night and day… Paul knew trials! Yet he endured to the very end; his faith never wavered.
In my research for today’s message, I found a very interesting piece of information. The Nicene Council was an important meeting held in the 4th century that was crucial not only to the early church but even to the church today. At this meeting, of the 318 delegates in attendance, less than 12 had not lost an eye, or lost a hand, or walked with a limp on a leg that had been lamed from torture for their Christian faith! Fewer than 12 out of 318 had not suffered some horrible cruelty simply because of their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord! Yet their faith did not waver.
In an article, “You Gotta Keep Dancin’” published by David C. Cook back in 1985, Tim Hansel wrote:
“Most of the Psalms were born in difficulty. Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals of England. Semi-paralyzed and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease. During the greater part of his life, American historian Francis Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes as a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history.
“Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, He puts him through the fire.”
Sometimes God puts us through the fire before He can use us for His purposes. And the thing about fire is… it purifies, it strengthens. Gold and silver are made purer and more precious by fire. Iron is made stronger in the flame. But all that is hard to remember when the bottom falls out and life starts circling the drain.
King David was certainly no stranger to tribulation, and I think he speaks for all of us in our times of trial when he says, in his 6th Psalm, verse 2…
Many years ago Dr. A. Parnell Bailey wrote a religious column for the Goldsboro News-Argus in Goldsboro, NC. Dr. Bailey once included this little story in one of his columns:
"I once visited an orange grove where an irrigation pump had broken down. The season was unusually dry and some of the trees were beginning to die for lack of water. The man giving the tour then took me to his own orchard where irrigation was used sparingly. 'These trees could go without rain for another two weeks,' he said. 'You see, when they were young, I frequently kept water from them. This hardship caused them to send their roots deeper into the soil in search of moisture. Now mine are the deepest-rooted trees in the area. While others are being scorched by the sun, these are finding moisture at a greater depth.'"
The trees Dr. Bailey described had been deprived of water in their developmental stage on purpose. This was not an act of cruelty or some punishment. It was done knowing that harsh times would come when water would be scarce. It was done so the trees would push their roots deeper into the soil, seeking out the precious water of life. It was done so that they might survive.
Paul talks about problems and trials and great tribulations because he personally knew all about problems and trials and great tribulations! He experienced them first hand. He was tortured, beaten, stoned, flogged, shipwrecked, imprisoned, chained to guards night and day… Paul knew trials! Yet he endured to the very end; his faith never wavered.
In my research for today’s message, I found a very interesting piece of information. The Nicene Council was an important meeting held in the 4th century that was crucial not only to the early church but even to the church today. At this meeting, of the 318 delegates in attendance, less than 12 had not lost an eye, or lost a hand, or walked with a limp on a leg that had been lamed from torture for their Christian faith! Fewer than 12 out of 318 had not suffered some horrible cruelty simply because of their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord! Yet their faith did not waver.
In an article, “You Gotta Keep Dancin’” published by David C. Cook back in 1985, Tim Hansel wrote:
“Most of the Psalms were born in difficulty. Most of the Epistles were written in prisons. Most of the greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers of all time had to pass through the fire. Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress from jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals of England. Semi-paralyzed and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease. During the greater part of his life, American historian Francis Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than five minutes as a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write twenty magnificent volumes of history.
“Sometimes it seems that when God is about to make preeminent use of a man, He puts him through the fire.”
Sometimes God puts us through the fire before He can use us for His purposes. And the thing about fire is… it purifies, it strengthens. Gold and silver are made purer and more precious by fire. Iron is made stronger in the flame. But all that is hard to remember when the bottom falls out and life starts circling the drain.
King David was certainly no stranger to tribulation, and I think he speaks for all of us in our times of trial when he says, in his 6th Psalm, verse 2…
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing;
heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.
--Psalm 6:2 (ESV)
O God, I am languishing - I’m too weak to go on. Help me, Lord, for I am troubled all the way down to my very bones. David knew tribulation.
But God assured us long ago that even during out darkest times, our greatest trials, we are not alone. Our Father spoke to us through His prophet Isaiah, in the 41st chapter of his book, verse 19, when He said…
A little trouble pops up and we think we can stand against it or wait it out, and come out OK in the end. We don’t remember that assurance from Isaiah’s prophecy - we think we can get by without God’s help. But when everything seems to come against us, when the rain won’t stop, when one trial is followed by another like waves on an angry sea, then we need to call upon the Lord for help.
I believe the author of the Book of Lamentations clearly understood this. I believe he might have been going through something very similar to us when he wrote this from chapter 3, verses 21 through 25…
But God assured us long ago that even during out darkest times, our greatest trials, we are not alone. Our Father spoke to us through His prophet Isaiah, in the 41st chapter of his book, verse 19, when He said…
10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with My victorious right hand.
--Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)
I believe the author of the Book of Lamentations clearly understood this. I believe he might have been going through something very similar to us when he wrote this from chapter 3, verses 21 through 25…
21 But this I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in Him.”
25 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
to the soul who seeks Him.
--Lamentations 3:21-25 (ESV)
The steadfast love of God never ceases. His mercies never end. Great is His faithfulness to us!
How true is ours to Him?
Paul tells us to thank God and praise Him and rejoice even when we are going through those terrible times! Even when our body is wracked by disease or the treatments to combat the disease. Even when our hearts and spirits are broken because a loved one has gone home to be with God.
Rejoice, because all these hardships build up our endurance! And endurance develops strength, not only in our bodies but in our character, too. And that character strengthens our confident hope of salvation, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For you see, faith wins out! By faith, we have been made right in the eyes of God. We have peace with God because of what Jesus did for us. And by that act of our Lord and by our faith, we stand here now in a place of undeserved privilege, in God’s great and wonderful grace. And we stand confidently and joyfully, looking forward to sharing in God’s glory.
King David fully understood this, too – not only the hardships but also the undeserved privilege, the expectancy of sharing God’s glory. That is why in his 103rd Psalm, verses 1 through 4, he proclaims…
Let us rejoice in our trials. Let us praise the Lord with all our hearts and never forget all the good things He does for us. He forgives our sins. He heals our diseases. He saves us from everlasting death and pours out His love and tender mercies upon us.
And yes, sometimes He forces us to push our roots deeper and deeper into the soil. But it’s just so we’ll find the true Water of Life, the Living Water that is our Lord and Savior Jesus.
As Paul said, when we were utterly helpless, when there was no other hope left to us, Christ came at just the right time, and died for us sinners.
Rejoice, and praise the Lord. For faith wins out in the end.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, faith is one of the many gifts You have given us, but it is up to us to nourish and exercise that gift. You tell us so many times in our Bible that if we just keep our faith and hold onto it, that we will be so richly rewarded beyond all imaginings in the end. A huge part of keeping our faith, Father, is remembering that You are always by our side, through the good times and the bad, knowing that those bad times strengthen us and give us confident hope of our salvation.
Hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, as we lift up to You our prayers spoken directly from our hearts…
Lord Jesus, it is only because of Your selfless act on the cross that we stand now in this state of grace, of undeserved privilege. Because of You, we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s wonderful glory. For when we were completely and utterly without hope, You came and atoned for our sins with Your precious blood. Thank You, O Lord. It is in Your blessed name, dear Jesus, we pray. Amen.
How true is ours to Him?
Paul tells us to thank God and praise Him and rejoice even when we are going through those terrible times! Even when our body is wracked by disease or the treatments to combat the disease. Even when our hearts and spirits are broken because a loved one has gone home to be with God.
Rejoice, because all these hardships build up our endurance! And endurance develops strength, not only in our bodies but in our character, too. And that character strengthens our confident hope of salvation, in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For you see, faith wins out! By faith, we have been made right in the eyes of God. We have peace with God because of what Jesus did for us. And by that act of our Lord and by our faith, we stand here now in a place of undeserved privilege, in God’s great and wonderful grace. And we stand confidently and joyfully, looking forward to sharing in God’s glory.
King David fully understood this, too – not only the hardships but also the undeserved privilege, the expectancy of sharing God’s glory. That is why in his 103rd Psalm, verses 1 through 4, he proclaims…
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise His holy name.
2 Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things He does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He redeems me from death
and crowns me with love and tender mercies.
--Psalm 103:1-4 (NLT)
And yes, sometimes He forces us to push our roots deeper and deeper into the soil. But it’s just so we’ll find the true Water of Life, the Living Water that is our Lord and Savior Jesus.
As Paul said, when we were utterly helpless, when there was no other hope left to us, Christ came at just the right time, and died for us sinners.
Rejoice, and praise the Lord. For faith wins out in the end.
Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, faith is one of the many gifts You have given us, but it is up to us to nourish and exercise that gift. You tell us so many times in our Bible that if we just keep our faith and hold onto it, that we will be so richly rewarded beyond all imaginings in the end. A huge part of keeping our faith, Father, is remembering that You are always by our side, through the good times and the bad, knowing that those bad times strengthen us and give us confident hope of our salvation.
Hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, as we lift up to You our prayers spoken directly from our hearts…
Lord Jesus, it is only because of Your selfless act on the cross that we stand now in this state of grace, of undeserved privilege. Because of You, we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s wonderful glory. For when we were completely and utterly without hope, You came and atoned for our sins with Your precious blood. Thank You, O Lord. It is in Your blessed name, dear Jesus, we pray. Amen.
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