We can never be thankful for troubles, but there is a way that God can use our troubles to bless other troubled people.
ACTS 14:22, PSALM 34:28, AND 2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4: HOW OUR TROUBLES CAN BLESS OTHERS
INTRODUCTION
All of us have lived long enough to know that life is filled with disappointments, sorrows, pain, trouble.
Some people believe that if we just love God enough we will always live in the sunshine.
All our troubles will be over and life will be always be beautiful.
But that’s not the way it works.
In Acts 14:22 we read that Paul and Barnabas “strengthened the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Our disappointments, our illnesses, our difficulties aren’t sent by God—at least not usually.
They come to us because we are humans and live in an evil, godless world.
This world is a world of sin and darkness, and we experience the troubles of the world just as unbelievers do.
Troubles can make us feel sorry for ourselves.
They can make us bitter and unloving.
Worst of all, troubles can make us doubt God.
You have seen this happen; I have seen this happen. It’s common.
Have you ever known someone who, when tragedy struck, said, “This proves that God doesn’t care” or “If there was a God in heaven, he wouldn’t have let this happen.”
We knew a family whose daughter was killed in a tragic automobile accident. They couldn’t bear to think that the God they had learned to love could have caused this terrible thing happen to their little daughter. They quit coming to church for years. Finally, faith came back and they returned.
I. Troubles are troubles and suffering hurts, but our troubles can show us how much we need God.
A. When our sense of well-being and security is torn away from us, we may turn to God and cling to him.
God is our only hope.
He doesn’t take away the sadness but he fills it with his presence.
Trouble forces us to go deeper with God. We feel that our faith is threatened and so we seek God more diligently, we pray more earnestly, we read our Bible with more serious purpose, we come to church with a sense of need, and we determine that we will prove our faith is real.
A Scottish preacher in the last century lost his wife suddenly, and after her death he preached an unusually personal sermon. He admitted in the message that he didn’t understand this life of ours. But still less could he understand how people facing loss could abandon faith.
“Abandon it for what?!” he said. “You people in the sunshine may believe the faith, but we in the shadow must believe it. We have nothing else.”
B. Psalm 34:18 tells us: “The Lord is near the broken hearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
God doesn’t inflict pain on us. He grieves with us in our troubles and disappointments.
And so we come to God in our sorrow and in our need and we find that in him is comfort.
We know he cares. We take a hold of his promise to be always with us and to never let us go.
Jesus wept at the grave of his friend Lazarus. And Jesus weeps with us at the graves of our loved ones.
II. But today I want to go farther. I want to talk about how our sufferings can make us useful as Christians.
A. Troubles can help us sympathize, and they can open up opportunities to help others.
In 2 Corinthians 1:4 Paul reminds us that “God 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.”
God doesn’t comfort us to make us comfortable but to make us comforters.
The world is full of trouble. All around us people are crying.
Hunger, sickness, oppression, slavery, broken marriages, abused children, people out of work.
Pain and sickness, the loss of loved ones, the fear of death…
As we feel the pain of our own losses, our grieving hearts open our inner eye to the world in which people are suffering much greater losses even than ours.
We know how it feels and we want to help.
A great novelist said, “The important thing is to link your sadness to the sadness of others."
B. What can I do? What can you do?
I can pray and cry out to God. God wants to help, and our prayers help release his power in the world.
Some can give money. Some can pray. Some can offer a word of encouragement. Some can weep with those who weep.
CONCLUSION
Let me close with something a woman wrote in a letter to another Christian.
This is from a letter written to the Christian author J. B. Phillips.
She had suffered greatly. She had had a lonely and unhappy childhood.
Her husband became psychotic and deserted her leaving her with three small children to bring up.
She was poor. Money was always a problem.
Polio had left her handicapped.
Her daughter had a mental breakdown and had repeatedly attempted suicide.
This woman wrote to Mr. Phillips about had God had been faithful to her throughout all this time.
She ended her letter with these words:
“By no other thing than by suffering do we learn to come into union with Jesus more fully or more speedily.
And to me the greatest value of any form of deprivation (quite apart and beyond one’s spiritual life) is the wonderful way in which it can be used by God….
People will not listen truly to a fit person who tells them to offer pain to God and try to rejoice in being able to share his sufferings and the burden of the world!
But when they see me crippled and that I know what pain is all the time, then they listen and will think about it.”
Is anyone you know having a hard time and for whom you can offer friendship, sympathy, and prayers?
Maybe that is the best way you can put your faith to work.
Maybe that is what Jesus wants you to do for him today.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Companionship with God: Luke 10:38-41: Mary Makes a Good Choice
What would it be like to entertain Jesus in your own home? What would you do that would really please him? In this story each of two sisters honors Jesus in her own way, and they teach us a lesson about what is most important in life.
LUKE 10:38-41: MARY MAKES A GOOD CHOICE
INTRODUCTION
The Czech people have a proverb: “Where there is room in the heart, there is room in the house.”
I think you can remember times when you practiced the grace of hospitality. And you can remember times when you enjoyed the hospitality of friends.
In the house where I grew up, we seldom had Sunday dinner without guests—folks we brought home from church with us. They would share the roast and potatoes that had been cooking in the oven while we were at church. Mother always put in extra potatoes for whoever we chose to bring home.
Our house wasn't big. We had three bedrooms and one bathroom for the eight of us, but we often had guests overnight, friends who were visiting our town and had no place to stay.
Jesus, we read, had no home of his own. He said, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
But Jesus did have homes. His friends welcomed him to their homes. We read of once when he was in Peter’s house. Another time he was in Matthew’s house.
But one of Jesus’ favorite homes was that of Martha and her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus. He seems to have visited that family often.
Read LUKE 10:38-41: I think this visit to Martha’s house was a highlight in Jesus’s week, a respite from all the crowds and arguing and strife.
I. First, we’ll talk about Martha.
The story tells us that it was Martha’s house. She must have been the older sister and she was the person responsible for the entertainment of guests.
Martha is an example to us. She served God by serving others.
This story follows the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Good Samaritan was a man who put his faith to work.
Martha was a woman who put her faith to work.
We suppose that Jesus wasn’t the only guest that day.
Maybe Martha had to prepare dinner for 13 hungry men.
Even if she had prepared only a simple meal, it was work.
Some preachers when they tell this story, criticize Martha.
But we have no reason to suppose that what Martha was doing wasn’t just what she should have been doing.
I am sure Jesus was pleased with her work.
Jesus was used to accepting favors. We read in Luke 8 the names of several women who went along with the disciples and provided the meals, doing the shopping and preparing the food.
Martha was not unreasonable to expect her sister Mary to pitch in and help her.
II. Now let’s turn to Mary.
A. Martha got a upset because she was doing all the work. She was so upset that she scolded Jesus. She thought Jesus was being inconsiderate because he didn’t suggest that Mary should help her sister.
Martha said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
Martha must have been a very good friend of Jesus to have spoken to him in this way.
Martha didn’t understand how much pleasure it was giving Jesus to have a friend who was so hungry to learn the ways of God.
B. One time when Jesus visited with another woman who was eager to learn more of God. Do you remember the story of Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria?
His disciples had gone to town to buy food and when they got back with the food, he wasn’t hungry. He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
For Jesus to teach Mary was even more satisfying even than the fine meal that Martha was preparing.
III. So Jesus gently reproved Martha—very gently. He said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
A. When Jesus reproved Martha he wasn’t criticizing her good work in preparing the meal but her over-concern and her self-pity.
B. There is always a danger for those who do more than their share of the work to feel sorry for themselves.
In our church in Kansas there was a woman named Cleo who was a true servant of the church. One Saturday morning she was cleaning the church with her bucket and mop. Someone came up to her and said, “Are you the cleaning lady?”
When she told me this story, she said, “I felt like just emptying that bucket on her head.”
I don’t think Cleo felt sorry for herself, but she could have.
Willing workers need to learn self-forgetfulness lest our diligence cause us to stumble others by our uncharitable spirit.
IV. Application
A. What Martha was doing that day was good. What Mary was doing that day was even better.
She was enjoying Jesus and he was enjoying her. She was learning the ways of God.
Mary had made a good choice. She needed that experience of special closeness with Jesus and his teaching that day more than her sister realized.
Jesus gently showed Martha her insensitivity in criticizing her sister to her guest.
B. I know that many of you have been “Marthas” in your homes and in your churches all your lives.
You’ve taught children, you’ve served the poor, you’ve visited the sick, and taken meals to people in trouble, you’ve sung in the choir, you’ve cleaned the church, you’ve prepared meals, and you’ve cleaned up.
Now you’re in Hiawatha Care Center, and there aren’t many opportunities to serve God by serving others. Now you can think about Mary. You can still be a Mary. You can still sit at Jesus’ feet and learn of him. You can come to services. You can pray and read your Bible.
You spent a lot of your time pleasing Jesus by being a Martha. Now you can please Jesus by being a Mary.
When we repeat the 23rd Psalm together, those familiar words bring us closer to God.
Remember the “good part” that Mary chose.
Even though we can’t see Jesus, he is here. He never leaves us.
We can always believe he is with us and it pleases him when we think about his closeness.
Think of yourself as sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning from him and making him happy with your attention to spiritual things.
CONCLUSION
The story is told of an elderly Scottish lady who was alone most of the day.
Someone asked her how she spent her time.
She said, “I get out my hymn book and have a little hymn of praise to the Lord.
Then I get my Bible and let God speak to me.
When I am tired of reading and can’t sing any more, I just sit still and let Jesus love me.”
LUKE 10:38-41: MARY MAKES A GOOD CHOICE
INTRODUCTION
The Czech people have a proverb: “Where there is room in the heart, there is room in the house.”
I think you can remember times when you practiced the grace of hospitality. And you can remember times when you enjoyed the hospitality of friends.
In the house where I grew up, we seldom had Sunday dinner without guests—folks we brought home from church with us. They would share the roast and potatoes that had been cooking in the oven while we were at church. Mother always put in extra potatoes for whoever we chose to bring home.
Our house wasn't big. We had three bedrooms and one bathroom for the eight of us, but we often had guests overnight, friends who were visiting our town and had no place to stay.
Jesus, we read, had no home of his own. He said, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
But Jesus did have homes. His friends welcomed him to their homes. We read of once when he was in Peter’s house. Another time he was in Matthew’s house.
But one of Jesus’ favorite homes was that of Martha and her sister Mary and her brother Lazarus. He seems to have visited that family often.
Read LUKE 10:38-41: I think this visit to Martha’s house was a highlight in Jesus’s week, a respite from all the crowds and arguing and strife.
I. First, we’ll talk about Martha.
The story tells us that it was Martha’s house. She must have been the older sister and she was the person responsible for the entertainment of guests.
Martha is an example to us. She served God by serving others.
This story follows the parable of the Good Samaritan.
The Good Samaritan was a man who put his faith to work.
Martha was a woman who put her faith to work.
We suppose that Jesus wasn’t the only guest that day.
Maybe Martha had to prepare dinner for 13 hungry men.
Even if she had prepared only a simple meal, it was work.
Some preachers when they tell this story, criticize Martha.
But we have no reason to suppose that what Martha was doing wasn’t just what she should have been doing.
I am sure Jesus was pleased with her work.
Jesus was used to accepting favors. We read in Luke 8 the names of several women who went along with the disciples and provided the meals, doing the shopping and preparing the food.
Martha was not unreasonable to expect her sister Mary to pitch in and help her.
II. Now let’s turn to Mary.
A. Martha got a upset because she was doing all the work. She was so upset that she scolded Jesus. She thought Jesus was being inconsiderate because he didn’t suggest that Mary should help her sister.
Martha said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”
Martha must have been a very good friend of Jesus to have spoken to him in this way.
Martha didn’t understand how much pleasure it was giving Jesus to have a friend who was so hungry to learn the ways of God.
B. One time when Jesus visited with another woman who was eager to learn more of God. Do you remember the story of Jesus and the woman at the well in Samaria?
His disciples had gone to town to buy food and when they got back with the food, he wasn’t hungry. He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
For Jesus to teach Mary was even more satisfying even than the fine meal that Martha was preparing.
III. So Jesus gently reproved Martha—very gently. He said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.”
A. When Jesus reproved Martha he wasn’t criticizing her good work in preparing the meal but her over-concern and her self-pity.
B. There is always a danger for those who do more than their share of the work to feel sorry for themselves.
In our church in Kansas there was a woman named Cleo who was a true servant of the church. One Saturday morning she was cleaning the church with her bucket and mop. Someone came up to her and said, “Are you the cleaning lady?”
When she told me this story, she said, “I felt like just emptying that bucket on her head.”
I don’t think Cleo felt sorry for herself, but she could have.
Willing workers need to learn self-forgetfulness lest our diligence cause us to stumble others by our uncharitable spirit.
IV. Application
A. What Martha was doing that day was good. What Mary was doing that day was even better.
She was enjoying Jesus and he was enjoying her. She was learning the ways of God.
Mary had made a good choice. She needed that experience of special closeness with Jesus and his teaching that day more than her sister realized.
Jesus gently showed Martha her insensitivity in criticizing her sister to her guest.
B. I know that many of you have been “Marthas” in your homes and in your churches all your lives.
You’ve taught children, you’ve served the poor, you’ve visited the sick, and taken meals to people in trouble, you’ve sung in the choir, you’ve cleaned the church, you’ve prepared meals, and you’ve cleaned up.
Now you’re in Hiawatha Care Center, and there aren’t many opportunities to serve God by serving others. Now you can think about Mary. You can still be a Mary. You can still sit at Jesus’ feet and learn of him. You can come to services. You can pray and read your Bible.
You spent a lot of your time pleasing Jesus by being a Martha. Now you can please Jesus by being a Mary.
When we repeat the 23rd Psalm together, those familiar words bring us closer to God.
Remember the “good part” that Mary chose.
Even though we can’t see Jesus, he is here. He never leaves us.
We can always believe he is with us and it pleases him when we think about his closeness.
Think of yourself as sitting at Jesus’ feet, learning from him and making him happy with your attention to spiritual things.
CONCLUSION
The story is told of an elderly Scottish lady who was alone most of the day.
Someone asked her how she spent her time.
She said, “I get out my hymn book and have a little hymn of praise to the Lord.
Then I get my Bible and let God speak to me.
When I am tired of reading and can’t sing any more, I just sit still and let Jesus love me.”
A Life Well Spent: Matthew 25:31-46: How Jesus Will View Our Life
When Jesus looks at our lives, he will look at how we, who have experienced God’s love, have passed that love on to others.
MATTHEW 25:31-46: HOW JESUS WILL VIEW OUR LIFE
INTRODUCTION
Our world is out of joint. Wicked people have their way in the world.
Innocent people are imprisoned and vicious people go free.
Cruel wars flourish in many parts of the world.
I have read that there are more slaves in our world today than at any time in history.
Children are the victims of the lust of evil doers.
The rich exploit the poor—robbing them of the necessities of life.
The poor starve because of the greed of the rich who only want more, more, more.
It has always been this way.
In Psalm 12 the psalmist laments:
“On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of men.”
One of the great dreams of the Old Testament believers was that someday justice would reign on earth.
Amos challenged the people:
“Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”
Jesus also spoke about a time of judgment when God would put the world to rights.
Read Matthew 25:31-46
In the Middle East sheep and goats graze together but need to be separated at the end of the day because the goats are less hardy and need to be kept warm.
So the goats are sheltered while the sheep may be allowed to stay outside.
It is this picture of the shepherd separating the sheep and goats that Jesus uses to teach about the coming judgment when God will sort out the good from the evil and establish justice in the world.
I. There is a judgment to come. When Jesus comes in his kingly rule, he will put the world to rights.
The Lord Jesus will confront each of us—Christians included—with the consequences of our actions.
In 2 Corinthians 5.10 Paul writes: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.”
A. Jesus tells us,
“The Son of Man will come in his glory, and all the angels with him,
Then he will sit on his glorious throne.”
Imagine this: Our lowly Jesus, then will be the glorious king!
He will be surrounded by his retinue of angels—“all his angels”—myriads of angels—countless thousands of angels.
And he will sit on his throne and everyone will be brought before him.
It says, “all the nations.” The word “nations” is in Greek “ethne,” which means simply “people.”
Sometimes it means everyone who is not a Jew, but it may also mean everyone including Jews, as it does here.
B. And the Lord Jesus will make a separation—
Not the rich from the poor…or the intelligent from the unintelligent…
or the learned from the uneducated…
He will separate us according to how we have treated our neighbors—especially how we have treated the poor and needy among us.
II. And to some he will say, “Come, O blessed of my Father…”
A. In this life, Jesus invites us: “Come to me… and I will give you rest.”
In that time Jesus will say, “Come blessed of my Father, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
That will be a wonderful kingdom God prepared for us before even he created the world.
B. Then Jesus will tell the blessed ones:
“I was hungry and you gave me food…thirsty…a stranger…naked…sick…in prison…”
C. Remember. Salvation is a gift. No one earns salvation. No one deserves salvation.
But the Bible insists that those who have received the gift of salvation will exhibit the fruits of salvation in our lives.
That is why the Bible never says we are judged by our beliefs, but we are judged by our works.
Jesus says, “By their fruits you shall know them,” not “By their opinions you shall know them,” or by their beliefs you shall know them.” The fruits Jesus talks about are the results of God working in our lives.
St. Paul writes in Romans 2:6: “He will repay according to each one’s deeds.”
Our obedience and our love and our kindness are the sure evidence that we are truly children of God.
That these inheritors of God’s kingdom had no thought of earning their salvation is shown by their surprise when the Lord Jesus told them of their kindness to him.
They said, “When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?”
And the Lord Jesus will say, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it to me.”
III. This is where some preachers stop. But to be faithful to Jesus’ words we must go on…
A. The Lord Jesus, the righteous Judge, says to those on his left: “Depart from me…for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”
B. I once heard a man say that he thought God would have a place for him in heaven because, as he said, “I never hurt anyone.”
But Jesus doesn’t point to one wicked thing these people had done. He didn’t point to one commandment they had broken—except the commandment to love their neighbors.
It‘s the things we haven’t done that make us most guilty. In some churches they confess their sins with these words: “We have left undone those things we ought to have done, and we have done those things we ought not to have done, and there is no health left in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy on us.”
Maybe most of our failure isn’t the bad things we have done but the good things we have failed to do.
C. Now about the judgment of sinners I am not going to go any farther.
About these things we are not told very much.
About the people who have never heard of Jesus…about what the punishment is…about whether it is literal or metaphorical fire… About these things the Bible doesn’t satisfy our curiosity.
We trust that God will do the right thing.
We have to let God be the judge of who is saved and who is lost.
D. What Jesus tells me is not about other people but what I need to know for myself.
CONCLUSION
My purpose in bringing this passage to your attention is to encourage you to look back over your life—you who love the Lord Jesus.
Recall some times when—out of love for God—you fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick…
Remember those times when, out of gratitude to God, you passed his love on to others by acts of kindness.
Maybe you didn’t even realize that you were serving God; you were just doing the right thing. Neither did the people in Jesus’ story realize they were doing these things for Jesus. But Jesus said that that was just what they were doing.
Jesus received those acts of kindness as done for him.
Jesus saw that generous gift to one in need as a gift to him.
It’s not that you earned your salvation. Our acceptance with God is a gift Jesus paid for on the cross—something you and I can never deserve.
But all our lives long we can try to live lives worthy of the gospel (Philippians 1.27).
We will never feel worthy. But God is pleased to see his love bear fruit in our lives.
A STORY
There was a woman who was very, very wealthy. She didn’t have any children, and her only heir was her nephew. Whenever she was around him and he was around her, he was just so beautiful and so wonderful and so kind and generous.
But she wondered just what he was really like. She wasn’t sure. So she dressed up as a bag lady—like a poor, homeless, alcoholic, elderly woman and sat on the brownstone steps where he lived and waited for him to come out of the door.
Finally he came out—and didn’t recognize her, of course. And immediately he yelled at her; he was very cruel. And then she knew.
Jesus is telling us: “I am the bag lady on your steps. How you treat me tells me who you really are. It tells me what you really think of me, the Lord Jesus.”
Note: The following is from R.V.G. Tasker’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.
On vv41 and 46, Tasker comments:
…aionios is a qualitative rather than a quantitative word. Eternal life is the life that is characteristic of the age (aion), which is in every way superior to the present evil age. Similarly, “eternal punishment” in this context indicates that lack of charity and loving-kindness, though it may escape punishment in the present age, must and will be punished in the age to come. There is, however, no indication as to how long that punishment will last. The metaphor of “eternal fire” … in v41 is meant, we may reasonably presume, to indicate final destruction. It would certainly be difficult to exaggerate the harmful effect of this unfortunate mistranslation, particularly when fire is understood in a literal rather than a metaphorical sense.
MATTHEW 25:31-46: HOW JESUS WILL VIEW OUR LIFE
INTRODUCTION
Our world is out of joint. Wicked people have their way in the world.
Innocent people are imprisoned and vicious people go free.
Cruel wars flourish in many parts of the world.
I have read that there are more slaves in our world today than at any time in history.
Children are the victims of the lust of evil doers.
The rich exploit the poor—robbing them of the necessities of life.
The poor starve because of the greed of the rich who only want more, more, more.
It has always been this way.
In Psalm 12 the psalmist laments:
“On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of men.”
One of the great dreams of the Old Testament believers was that someday justice would reign on earth.
Amos challenged the people:
“Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.”
Jesus also spoke about a time of judgment when God would put the world to rights.
Read Matthew 25:31-46
In the Middle East sheep and goats graze together but need to be separated at the end of the day because the goats are less hardy and need to be kept warm.
So the goats are sheltered while the sheep may be allowed to stay outside.
It is this picture of the shepherd separating the sheep and goats that Jesus uses to teach about the coming judgment when God will sort out the good from the evil and establish justice in the world.
I. There is a judgment to come. When Jesus comes in his kingly rule, he will put the world to rights.
The Lord Jesus will confront each of us—Christians included—with the consequences of our actions.
In 2 Corinthians 5.10 Paul writes: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body.”
A. Jesus tells us,
“The Son of Man will come in his glory, and all the angels with him,
Then he will sit on his glorious throne.”
Imagine this: Our lowly Jesus, then will be the glorious king!
He will be surrounded by his retinue of angels—“all his angels”—myriads of angels—countless thousands of angels.
And he will sit on his throne and everyone will be brought before him.
It says, “all the nations.” The word “nations” is in Greek “ethne,” which means simply “people.”
Sometimes it means everyone who is not a Jew, but it may also mean everyone including Jews, as it does here.
B. And the Lord Jesus will make a separation—
Not the rich from the poor…or the intelligent from the unintelligent…
or the learned from the uneducated…
He will separate us according to how we have treated our neighbors—especially how we have treated the poor and needy among us.
II. And to some he will say, “Come, O blessed of my Father…”
A. In this life, Jesus invites us: “Come to me… and I will give you rest.”
In that time Jesus will say, “Come blessed of my Father, and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
That will be a wonderful kingdom God prepared for us before even he created the world.
B. Then Jesus will tell the blessed ones:
“I was hungry and you gave me food…thirsty…a stranger…naked…sick…in prison…”
C. Remember. Salvation is a gift. No one earns salvation. No one deserves salvation.
But the Bible insists that those who have received the gift of salvation will exhibit the fruits of salvation in our lives.
That is why the Bible never says we are judged by our beliefs, but we are judged by our works.
Jesus says, “By their fruits you shall know them,” not “By their opinions you shall know them,” or by their beliefs you shall know them.” The fruits Jesus talks about are the results of God working in our lives.
St. Paul writes in Romans 2:6: “He will repay according to each one’s deeds.”
Our obedience and our love and our kindness are the sure evidence that we are truly children of God.
That these inheritors of God’s kingdom had no thought of earning their salvation is shown by their surprise when the Lord Jesus told them of their kindness to him.
They said, “When did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?”
And the Lord Jesus will say, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to the least of my brothers or sisters, you did it to me.”
III. This is where some preachers stop. But to be faithful to Jesus’ words we must go on…
A. The Lord Jesus, the righteous Judge, says to those on his left: “Depart from me…for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.”
B. I once heard a man say that he thought God would have a place for him in heaven because, as he said, “I never hurt anyone.”
But Jesus doesn’t point to one wicked thing these people had done. He didn’t point to one commandment they had broken—except the commandment to love their neighbors.
It‘s the things we haven’t done that make us most guilty. In some churches they confess their sins with these words: “We have left undone those things we ought to have done, and we have done those things we ought not to have done, and there is no health left in us. But thou, O Lord, have mercy on us.”
Maybe most of our failure isn’t the bad things we have done but the good things we have failed to do.
C. Now about the judgment of sinners I am not going to go any farther.
About these things we are not told very much.
About the people who have never heard of Jesus…about what the punishment is…about whether it is literal or metaphorical fire… About these things the Bible doesn’t satisfy our curiosity.
We trust that God will do the right thing.
We have to let God be the judge of who is saved and who is lost.
D. What Jesus tells me is not about other people but what I need to know for myself.
CONCLUSION
My purpose in bringing this passage to your attention is to encourage you to look back over your life—you who love the Lord Jesus.
Recall some times when—out of love for God—you fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick…
Remember those times when, out of gratitude to God, you passed his love on to others by acts of kindness.
Maybe you didn’t even realize that you were serving God; you were just doing the right thing. Neither did the people in Jesus’ story realize they were doing these things for Jesus. But Jesus said that that was just what they were doing.
Jesus received those acts of kindness as done for him.
Jesus saw that generous gift to one in need as a gift to him.
It’s not that you earned your salvation. Our acceptance with God is a gift Jesus paid for on the cross—something you and I can never deserve.
But all our lives long we can try to live lives worthy of the gospel (Philippians 1.27).
We will never feel worthy. But God is pleased to see his love bear fruit in our lives.
A STORY
There was a woman who was very, very wealthy. She didn’t have any children, and her only heir was her nephew. Whenever she was around him and he was around her, he was just so beautiful and so wonderful and so kind and generous.
But she wondered just what he was really like. She wasn’t sure. So she dressed up as a bag lady—like a poor, homeless, alcoholic, elderly woman and sat on the brownstone steps where he lived and waited for him to come out of the door.
Finally he came out—and didn’t recognize her, of course. And immediately he yelled at her; he was very cruel. And then she knew.
Jesus is telling us: “I am the bag lady on your steps. How you treat me tells me who you really are. It tells me what you really think of me, the Lord Jesus.”
Note: The following is from R.V.G. Tasker’s commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.
On vv41 and 46, Tasker comments:
…aionios is a qualitative rather than a quantitative word. Eternal life is the life that is characteristic of the age (aion), which is in every way superior to the present evil age. Similarly, “eternal punishment” in this context indicates that lack of charity and loving-kindness, though it may escape punishment in the present age, must and will be punished in the age to come. There is, however, no indication as to how long that punishment will last. The metaphor of “eternal fire” … in v41 is meant, we may reasonably presume, to indicate final destruction. It would certainly be difficult to exaggerate the harmful effect of this unfortunate mistranslation, particularly when fire is understood in a literal rather than a metaphorical sense.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Strength for the Journey: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10: Dealing with Pain and Weakness
People who are healthy and vigorous have many opportunities to be serve God, but how can those of us who live with pain be useful?
2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10: DEALING WITH PAIN AND WEAKNESS
INTRODUCTION
Today I want to talk to you about something in the Bible that has brought me great comfort recently, and I think will be important to you also.
As I’ve grown older, I have had to come to terms with weakness, with pain, with limitations.
When life becomes less and less comfortable—and even painful—and we have less and less to look forward to on this earth, it is easy to become preoccupied with what we’ve lost.
We are sad that we have fewer and fewer opportunities to serve others and to serve the Lord.
We may have a sense of weakness and insignificance.
But there is something the apostle Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians that has been a great comfort to me, and I want to share it with you.
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
I. Paul had had a wonderful spiritual experience. It was a vision. I have never had a vision, but Paul had a vision.
A. He was caught up into the third heaven, the Paradise of God
There he heard things that cannot be told—things too wonderful to put into words—an infinitely precious experience, but one he couldn’t share, or that was inappropriate to share.
God meant this revelation for Paul alone.
B. Immediately, on the heels of this wonderful experience, came a painful, incessant affliction.
He calls it a “thorn in the flesh” because it was so painful.
He says his thorn in the flesh came to “harass” him.
The Greek word means to beat on him. It was no minor affliction.
What it was, he doesn’t say. People have guessed that it could have been chronic headaches, vision problems, recurrent fevers, spiritual temptations, or a speech impediment. But it isn’t important what the affliction was. By not specifying the nature of his “thorn in the flesh” we are free to think of it as similar to whatever affliction we are enduring.
C. Notice, this affliction was not sent by God.
Paul calls it a “messenger of Satan.”
The devil intended to trip Paul up, to discourage him, to tempt him to sin, and to slow down his work for Christ.
II. So Paul prayed, as he did about everything in his life.
A. He prayed especially hard about this because it was so painful, so limiting. He asked to be delivered.
B. Paul was powerful in prayer, but this time the answer he received was not what he expected or wanted: God told him that this “thorn,” this painful affliction would not go away.
It was something, I assume, that Paul lived with for the rest of his life—just as some of us have afflictions that will never go away.
C. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Grace is God’s good will toward us and his good work in us.
Grace is an overflowing force in our lives. It cleanses us and makes us holy. It gives us joy and peace in the midst of trouble. It brings us to eternal life in glory.
Paul’s circumstances didn’t change—he still suffered from the sharp pain, but now he experienced a counterweight to the pain—the grace of God—so that he was able to bear it.
God’s power is made perfect in weakness—Paul experienced the full force of God’s strength in his life.
God’s power always works in human weakness. As long as we feel strong and capable, we don’t need God. We will solve our problems ourselves.
I used to work in a mental hospital. I remember a young woman, a patient, telling me that she didn’t want God in her life because God would be like a crutch and she didn’t want to go through life depending on a crutch.
But God isn’t like a crutch. God can heal our broken souls.
When we are weak and without strength, then God’s strength can flow into us.
This is a principle in the Bible
When I know my spiritual poverty—then God can become my heart’s treasure, and I am rich in blessings. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
When my hands are empty and not grasping and holding on to the pleasures of this lower life—then God can place in them his spiritual blessings.
When I am beaten down by circumstances, so that I am weak in myself—then my weakness becomes the stage for God to display his power.
III. Suddenly Paul saw a purpose in this pain and difficulty that had come to him.
A. Even though his affliction had come from the devil, it was something that God was going to use in his life. He said, “So I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (v9).
He boasts about what great things Christ can do. This is not what we call “boasting” or “bragging.” This is rejoicing in God’s grace.
“…so that the power of Christ may dwell in me”: The Greek word translated here “dwell” is to pitch one’s tent. Paul is saying that in his weakness Christ’s power comes and takes up residence in him.
B. So Paul says he is content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities…because when he is weak, then he is strong. The weaker Paul gets, the more powerfully God can use Paul as his servant.
He would no doubt rather not be weak, or insulted, or endure hardships, persecutions, of calamities, but he can endure them, and he can see that they are making him a stronger believer.
C. In what does God’s power consist in a life like yours and mine?
We aren’t great apostles, but God can still give us strength, even in our weakness strength to believe…to pray…to live for God…to do something for God…
CONCLUSION: The lessons we learn for this scripture:
Even the greatest and best saints are tempted by pride. Let us remember that we also can fall into uselessness if we begin to think we are really pretty good Christians.
God can bring good out of our weakness and pain.
I know this is hard to believe. Sometimes we may find it all but impossible to believe. But let’s cling to the truth that even when we are feeling really bad, God is doing his work in us. Someday we will understand.
Constant pain—however hard it is to bear—can make us cling closer to God.
God may become more real to us. We look forward more eagerly to our heavenly home.
Let us offer our pain and our limitations—all that afflicts us—to God daily and ask that he will take these troubles to make us more sympathetic,
more humble,
more faithful—
and even more useful as we come alongside of others who also suffer to comfort them with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted by God (2 Cor. 1:4).
And always remember:
“Weeping may tarry for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Ps.30:5).
We can endure almost anything if we can believe and feel that God holds us and will never let us go.
Paul wrote in this same letter:
“This slight momentary affliction
is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory
beyond all measure.
For we look not at the things that are seen
but at the things that are not seen.
For the things that are seen are temporary,
but the things that are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10: DEALING WITH PAIN AND WEAKNESS
INTRODUCTION
Today I want to talk to you about something in the Bible that has brought me great comfort recently, and I think will be important to you also.
As I’ve grown older, I have had to come to terms with weakness, with pain, with limitations.
When life becomes less and less comfortable—and even painful—and we have less and less to look forward to on this earth, it is easy to become preoccupied with what we’ve lost.
We are sad that we have fewer and fewer opportunities to serve others and to serve the Lord.
We may have a sense of weakness and insignificance.
But there is something the apostle Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians that has been a great comfort to me, and I want to share it with you.
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
I. Paul had had a wonderful spiritual experience. It was a vision. I have never had a vision, but Paul had a vision.
A. He was caught up into the third heaven, the Paradise of God
There he heard things that cannot be told—things too wonderful to put into words—an infinitely precious experience, but one he couldn’t share, or that was inappropriate to share.
God meant this revelation for Paul alone.
B. Immediately, on the heels of this wonderful experience, came a painful, incessant affliction.
He calls it a “thorn in the flesh” because it was so painful.
He says his thorn in the flesh came to “harass” him.
The Greek word means to beat on him. It was no minor affliction.
What it was, he doesn’t say. People have guessed that it could have been chronic headaches, vision problems, recurrent fevers, spiritual temptations, or a speech impediment. But it isn’t important what the affliction was. By not specifying the nature of his “thorn in the flesh” we are free to think of it as similar to whatever affliction we are enduring.
C. Notice, this affliction was not sent by God.
Paul calls it a “messenger of Satan.”
The devil intended to trip Paul up, to discourage him, to tempt him to sin, and to slow down his work for Christ.
II. So Paul prayed, as he did about everything in his life.
A. He prayed especially hard about this because it was so painful, so limiting. He asked to be delivered.
B. Paul was powerful in prayer, but this time the answer he received was not what he expected or wanted: God told him that this “thorn,” this painful affliction would not go away.
It was something, I assume, that Paul lived with for the rest of his life—just as some of us have afflictions that will never go away.
C. God said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Grace is God’s good will toward us and his good work in us.
Grace is an overflowing force in our lives. It cleanses us and makes us holy. It gives us joy and peace in the midst of trouble. It brings us to eternal life in glory.
Paul’s circumstances didn’t change—he still suffered from the sharp pain, but now he experienced a counterweight to the pain—the grace of God—so that he was able to bear it.
God’s power is made perfect in weakness—Paul experienced the full force of God’s strength in his life.
God’s power always works in human weakness. As long as we feel strong and capable, we don’t need God. We will solve our problems ourselves.
I used to work in a mental hospital. I remember a young woman, a patient, telling me that she didn’t want God in her life because God would be like a crutch and she didn’t want to go through life depending on a crutch.
But God isn’t like a crutch. God can heal our broken souls.
When we are weak and without strength, then God’s strength can flow into us.
This is a principle in the Bible
When I know my spiritual poverty—then God can become my heart’s treasure, and I am rich in blessings. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
When my hands are empty and not grasping and holding on to the pleasures of this lower life—then God can place in them his spiritual blessings.
When I am beaten down by circumstances, so that I am weak in myself—then my weakness becomes the stage for God to display his power.
III. Suddenly Paul saw a purpose in this pain and difficulty that had come to him.
A. Even though his affliction had come from the devil, it was something that God was going to use in his life. He said, “So I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (v9).
He boasts about what great things Christ can do. This is not what we call “boasting” or “bragging.” This is rejoicing in God’s grace.
“…so that the power of Christ may dwell in me”: The Greek word translated here “dwell” is to pitch one’s tent. Paul is saying that in his weakness Christ’s power comes and takes up residence in him.
B. So Paul says he is content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities…because when he is weak, then he is strong. The weaker Paul gets, the more powerfully God can use Paul as his servant.
He would no doubt rather not be weak, or insulted, or endure hardships, persecutions, of calamities, but he can endure them, and he can see that they are making him a stronger believer.
C. In what does God’s power consist in a life like yours and mine?
We aren’t great apostles, but God can still give us strength, even in our weakness strength to believe…to pray…to live for God…to do something for God…
CONCLUSION: The lessons we learn for this scripture:
Even the greatest and best saints are tempted by pride. Let us remember that we also can fall into uselessness if we begin to think we are really pretty good Christians.
God can bring good out of our weakness and pain.
I know this is hard to believe. Sometimes we may find it all but impossible to believe. But let’s cling to the truth that even when we are feeling really bad, God is doing his work in us. Someday we will understand.
Constant pain—however hard it is to bear—can make us cling closer to God.
God may become more real to us. We look forward more eagerly to our heavenly home.
Let us offer our pain and our limitations—all that afflicts us—to God daily and ask that he will take these troubles to make us more sympathetic,
more humble,
more faithful—
and even more useful as we come alongside of others who also suffer to comfort them with the comfort with which we ourselves have been comforted by God (2 Cor. 1:4).
And always remember:
“Weeping may tarry for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Ps.30:5).
We can endure almost anything if we can believe and feel that God holds us and will never let us go.
Paul wrote in this same letter:
“This slight momentary affliction
is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory
beyond all measure.
For we look not at the things that are seen
but at the things that are not seen.
For the things that are seen are temporary,
but the things that are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
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