94-27 Suffering: Faith on Trial – The Ultimate Targeted Lightning

The following sermon by Dr. Chuck F. Betters is from a 7-part series on suffering.

In this scripture-packed sermon series, Dr. Chuck F. Betters walks suffering believers into the honest, holy language of the Psalms, where God’s people bring their doubts, fears, questions, and grief into the presence of the Lord. Beginning with Psalm 73, Chuck helps listeners wrestle with the questions pain often raises: Is God truly sovereign? Is He perfectly good? Why do the wicked seem to prosper while God’s people suffer? This series reveals the building blocks of a shabby belief system, like proof-texting, a lack of understanding of the omnipotence and goodness of God in an evil world, and then builds a theology of suffering that is more than a belief system. Such a strong biblical understanding of suffering equips God’s people to turn to Him when crisis comes. It points hurting hearts to the steady love of Christ, the purposes of God that cannot be shaken, and the comforting truth that in our weakest moments, we are held securely in His grip.

Transcript

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Let's join Dr. Barrett as we preach into today's message.

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We have been talking in the weeks past about faith under trial, suffering, pain, the question of evil. Why does an omnipotent sovereign God, who is perfectly good and also totally omnipotent, allow evil, pain, and suffering in this world? And over the past few weeks, we have been examining those passages, specifically focusing on ills and bereavement and grief and heartache that is common to all men. And then we moved from that into discussing what kinds of evils and suffering is peculiar to the people of God, peculiar to the Christian. And more specifically, suffering that is peculiar to Christian leaders. Now, over the past six or seven weeks, we have done that. And in this, the last of that series, I would like to talk about God's ultimate targeted lightning. I'd like us to take a look at some of the most fascinating aspects of suffering specifically as we look at God's ultimate or targeted lightning. The question now is when we suffer, there will always be some mystery. There is always some mystery to suffering. Now the question becomes, along with that mystery, will there also be faith? That is, when we suffer, there are some things that cannot be explained. But will there be faith when we do suffer? For my faith and your faith to be credible, the object of our faith, that is the one in whom we say we believe, must also be credible. In other words, if we are going to rest in something or someone, that someone has to be credible in order for me to believe that he works all things together for good. Christ is the object of our faith. Now, here is the thesis of this message. Listen carefully. The cross, which is God's ultimate targeted lightning, the cross is the paramount reason we are sure that God can be trusted. The cross is the paramount reason we can be sure that in our suffering God can be trusted. God who is the object of our faith. Now, I don't know about you, but the cry of most human hearts is a cry for justice and fairness. We want justice. We want fairness. When we are convinced that we have suffered unfairly, we may cry out for justice. We want God to be fair. We want Him to punish those who have injured us or caused us some harm or treated us unfairly. But you know, when we say something like that, we're making some assumptions, subtle assumptions. The first assumption we make is that my cry for justice, my cry for fairness, is preconditioned by a timetable. In other words, I want justice and I want fairness when? Right? Now. Now that's assumption number one. Assumption number two is I am selective in my requests. That is, I want him to be fair. I want God to be just in this instance of what I am suffering, but not necessarily in every instance. Please, God, be just. Please, God be fair in the situation in which I am now finding myself, but not in every situation, just this one. And along with that comes a presupposition that we know all that God is trying to do and accomplish, given my set of circumstances. That is, we know how all the puzzle parts fit together. But you know, when you stop to think about that a little more closely, we do believe in a just God. We do believe in a God who is fair. And we do believe that justice will be served in the end. But when we plead for justice, we usually mean more than just a theological belief in God. We want justice and we want it now, but we don't want it too often. And we don't want it in every circumstance. You see, what would happen if justice were instantaneous right now? What would be inconceivable would happen because too often we would find ourselves on the wrong side of that justice. Too often we would find ourselves guilty, demanding justice from a God who, if he were to rightfully judge us, would condemn us all to hell. That's corruption. You see, what I am implying is that I understand all that's going on in my life. I know the end from the beginning. I know why this happened and why this happened and why that happened and why that happened. And God, if you're going to be just and fair, then you have to answer all these questions on my timetable because you see, I have all the information, and God, if you don't know that I have all the information, then please let me inform you. You need to be informed of all the details of my life and why this particular circumstance is either unjust or unfair. And we begin to dictate to God. Now let's think about this for a minute. Suppose we were to insist that God meets out justice in every situation immediately. Think about this for a second. What if God were to give you instant gratification every time you had a good deed or a good thought or a kind word, every time you spoke something good to someone, every time you used your tongue in proper ways, every time you thought something good, suppose that God were to give you instant gratification. But now being a just God and a fair God, suppose also that every time you thought a bad thought, or spoke an evil word, or did a bad deed, God were to instantaneously shoot you with a jolt. Suppose that God were to exact his justice in direct proportion to the measure of the goodness or the badness God saw in you. What kind of a world would that produce? Dr. D.A. Carson wrote something on this, and I found it fascinating. I'd like to read the full quote to you. He said, such a system would turn us into automata. We would not join in worship because of the intrinsic worth of God, but because it gave us selfish pleasure. We would not refrain from lying because it is wrong and abominated by the God we love, but because we wanted to avoid the next nasty jolt. We would not love our neighbor because our hearts had been transformed by the love of God, but because we preferred personal pleasure to personal gain. I think that if God were to institute such a world order, things would get far worse. God does not look on our external acts, he looks on the heart. Such a system of enforced and ruthlessly just discipline would not change our hearts. We would be smoldering with resentment. Our obedience would be external and apathetic. Our hearts and devotion would not be won over. The jolts might initially gain protestations or repentance, but they would not command our allegiance. And since God examines the heart, he would be constantly administering the jolts. The world would become a searing pain. The world would become hell. Do you really want nothing but totally effective, instantaneous justice? Then go to hell. There is a standard of justice in the word of God which cannot be clearer than this. The wages of sin is death. All of you, all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If God were to instantaneously be just and fair, he would have to kill all of us and send us to hell. We must be thankful that God is a God of justice, but we must be equally thankful that he is also a God of love, compassion, and forgiveness. You have that passage in Romans 3? Romans 3 verse 25. Watch this now. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his what? His what? Justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. Underline this now. He did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. What's he saying? He's saying that the cross of Jesus Christ satisfies the justice of God. A holy God cannot look on sin. A holy God cannot embrace sin. This is why Jesus begged the Father to remove the cup. This is why he would say, Why have you forsaken me? Because you see the Father who is holy turns his back on the Son who has imbibed in himself the sins of his people, and a holy God cannot look on sin. What you see on the cross is what God thinks of your sin. A holy and a just God, righteously condemning on the cross of Jesus Christ my sin and all of the sins of his people. But don't stop there. Go to the fifth chapter of Romans, Romans chapter 5, and look with me at verse 8. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Well now something's changed. We have the justice of God being satisfied, and we have the love of God in that it's permitted. The holiness of God, who in his wrath allows his son to be butchered on the cross, and the love of God in that he permits it. Two sides to the same question. Two sides to the same God. His holiness because he hates your sin. And his love because he loves you. That is why our God can be trusted with our suffering. That is why he can be trusted with my pain and your pain. That is why the object of our faith, who is our Christ, can be trusted implicitly. You see, he bore my sins. On that cross. And that is where the justice of God and the love of God intersect. The cross is the only adequate gauge of what God thinks of sin. He retains his perfect justice, yet he pours out the fullness of his love. He justifies sinners and is just against sin. But he loves and embraces his people. You see, that's the gospel. That's what the word gospel means. Good news. The only basis upon which my sins can be forgiven is through the cross of Jesus Christ. And when you lose that perspective, you lose all hope. Your suffering will overwhelm you. Your pain and your heartache will become so burdensome. And the object of your faith, the God you say you serve, will seem like a foreigner. He will seem detached and removed unless you have a fresh vision of the character that the cross of Jesus Christ unveils about our God. You know, there's a frequently debated doctrine among theologians, and it's called the impassibility of God. Now, what it means is this can God really feel my pain? Can he really feel my anguish? Does God feel? Or is he detached from the pain of men? Not simply does he understand my pain, or does he look and observe my pain, but can God really and actually feel my pain? In other words, when I grieve, does he grieve? When I cry, does he cry? When I am emoting, when I am expressing feelings that are deep down inside, does God feel that? Now the debate goes something like this. Some people look at passages like Job 42.2, which says that I know you can do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted. Or Malachi 3.6, which says, I the Lord do not change. Or Ephesians 1.11, which speaks of God working all things according to a purpose and his will. Or James 1.17 that says God does not change like sifting sands. And many other passages that say again and again and again that God is an omnipotent God who does not change. That God is impassable or transcendent, that he cannot be touched in the same way that men are touched. But then on the other hand, you have passages like Isaiah 33.1. Listen to these passages. Feel what God is saying in these passages. Isaiah 33.1, woe to you, O destroyer, you who have not been destroyed. Woe to you, traitor, you who have not been betrayed. When you stop destroying, you will be destroyed. When you stop betraying, you will be betrayed. Sounds like an angry, passionate God, doesn't it? Or look at Jeremiah 31, 20. Is not Ephraim my dear son the child in whom I delight? God delights. My heart yearns for him. I have great compassion for him. Those are emotive words. Or Hosea 11, verses 8 and 9. How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Adma? How can I make you like Zeboim? My heart is changed within me. All my compassion is aroused. I will not carry out my fierce anger. Nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. Or Micah 6, 3, my people, what have I done to you? How have I been burdened to you? Answer me. Or Mark chapter 3, verse 5, where Jesus was hearing the ridicule concerning his healing power, and he looked around him at the crowd, and in anger, being deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, Stretch out your hand. He stretched it out and it was completely restored. Or Luke 19, verses 41 and 42, where the Bible says he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, and he wept over it and said, If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes. What do you do with passages like that that speak of the anger, the passion, and the compassion and all of the emotional features of a God that supposedly is impassable? Which is it? Now, many of these passages that talk about God's emotions are quickly dismissed by those who believe in the impassableness of God. They're quickly dismissed. They say, well, they're anthropomorphic, which means that God is using language that men can understand, but it really doesn't apply to him. Some say, well, it's the human nature and the divine nature of God. You see, God in Christ is human and divine, but this was the human side that was speaking. And this is the divine side that is speaking. Then that gets into the whole debate of the hypostatic union. You want to get into that discussion? You see, what we have here is selective interpretations. We have a smorgasborg of scriptures, and it's up to man to sit down and pick the ones he likes and throw the ones out he doesn't. Why do we have to do that? Why can we not understand that both doctrines are clearly taught in Scripture? That God is a God who is omnipotent and sovereign and does not change like men change. Yet God is also a God of compassion and feels and empathizes and experiences hurt. Certainly there are some metaphors. Certainly the language is there that shows that God's suffering is not exactly like our suffering. Many metaphors are there, but listen, those metaphors are not there to refer to nothing. They're there to talk about a God who feels what I feel, and yet who is transcendent and sovereign. A God who is above time, yet a God who invades time. A God who is unlike man, yet a God who feels the pain and the sorrow of man. Do you see where those two doctrines meet? Do you see where the two images of God meet? They meet on the cross. That's exactly what the cross is. A God who is above time, yet a God who invades time. A God who cannot be touched with the pain of men, yet a God who had nails driven through his hands and his feet and screamed out in pain, feeling what I'm feeling, hurting where I'm hurting, experiencing my hell, taking my shame. Hebrews chapter 2. I found this verse intriguing since the children, that's us, have flesh and blood. That's me. He too shared in their humanity, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil. And listen, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. There isn't one person sitting here this morning, not one, who to some degree or another doesn't fear death. Do you realize how much of our lives are spent protecting ourselves from dying? Politics, both domestic and international politics, is designed for one purpose and one purpose only, to prevent us from blowing ourselves off the face of the earth. Watch the news. What are they doing? Shooting and killing each other in South Africa, in the Middle East, in Bosnia, in New York City, in Glasgow. All of what we do, the way in which we live, is designed to protect ourselves from dying. What's the scripture telling us? We serve a God who has invaded time, gone to a cross, suffered the ignoble death of crucifixion. In order to what? Remove from us the fear of dying. Are you afraid to die? If death were to invade you this morning, believe me, it can happen quickly. If death were to invade you this morning, can the cross be trusted? Can the cross of Jesus Christ be trusted? Is the object of your faith trustworthy? Can he be believed? 1 Corinthians chapter 1 says that there are two responses. You don't have to turn to this. People will respond one of two ways. In fact, sitting here this morning, you're responding one of two ways. Either this message is foolishness, or it is your salvation. Either the cross of Jesus Christ is foolishness to you, or it's your salvation. All the wisdom of the world, Paul would say to the Corinthians, all the philosophers, all the wise men, all the great thinkers, wrap them all up in all of their wisdom, lay them at the foot of the cross, and their wisdom becomes the foolishness of God. The cross of Jesus Christ becomes the very focal point of wisdom. I want you to stop and think about something for a moment. If we have a high priest who is Christ, Hebrews 10, 12 tells us that this high priest was offered up for all time, one sacrifice for sins. Jesus doesn't die again and again and again and again and again, as some systems of religion teach. He is not dying on the cross in order to be a good example so that we can follow in his steps. He is not giving of himself so that we can become good people who do good deeds because the Bible's clear that our righteousness is as filthy rags in the sight of God. Jesus Christ is not dying on the cross in order to set a pattern. He is not dying to be crucified again and again and again. The writer of Hebrews tells us he dies on that cross once and for all for sins. And do you know when he died on the cross for Chuck Betters, all of Chuck Betters' sins were future to him? So even the sins I haven't committed were laid on that cross. Even the sins that I haven't committed are laid on that cross. And he took my hell. The justice of God and the love of God intersecting on that cross. And Hebrews 4.15 tells us we don't have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. But we have one who has been tempted in every way like unto us, yet without sin. So either this cross is foolishness to you, or it's your salvation, and there is no middle ground. You can't have a neutral position. That's why Isaac Watts, the great hymn writer, would say, Alas, and did my Savior bleed, and did my sovereign die? Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? Was it for sins that I had done he groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown, and love beyond degree. Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his glories in. When Christ the mighty maker died for man, the creature's sin. Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears, dissolve my heart in thankfulness, melt my eyes to tears. But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe. Here, Lord, I give myself away. It's all that I can do. I think he caught it. You see now, listen, it is in the darkest hour. It is in the scariest part of the night. It is when the lights go out and the boogeyman comes out. When the ghosts and the goblins appear, when fear becomes the controlling element of your heart, when you are so engulfed and inflamed by grief and pain and sorrow and questions and doubt, it is in that darkest, scariest moment of your life that the Christian experiences something that even Job didn't know. Jesus Christ crucified, risen, and coming again. Can he be trusted? Jesus would appear to the men along the Emmaus road. The two disciples. Their hearts were ripped out of their chests. He had just been crucified. All of their hopes were pinned on him. And Jesus appeared beside them and walked with them. They didn't know it was him. And they began to question. They began to doubt. And he opened up the scriptures and began to reason for them and made this profound statement. He said, Did not Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And it wasn't until nighttime when he broke bread. Either they understood that breaking of the bread because he celebrated the Passover often with his disciples, or when he broke the bread, they saw the nail prints in his hands. It wasn't until then that they knew who he was. But you see, the connection between the cross and glory is inescapable. God hit lightning on that cross. But you see, that lightning skipped over the cross. And three days later, that lightning not only touched down the cross, but that lightning entered into a tomb. And the radiance and the glory of God burst into that tomb and into that corpse. And the radiant power of God delivered Jesus Christ from the bonds of death. And through those gravecloths, his body came out. That's why they were left neatly in order. He came out from the gravecloths and through the tomb. The angels did not roll away the stone in order to let Christ out. The angels rolled away the stone in order to let us in. Because you see, he was already gone. Lightning had struck. But you see, it skipped. We know we live in resurrection power that comes from that cross every time someone is born again. Resurrection lightning strikes again when a dead heart is brought to life. When a man or a woman is called through the preaching of the word and through the prayers of the saints, when he comes to the point of conversion and in faith believes the gospel and repents of his sins. We know that resurrection lightning strikes every time God removes the blindness from my eyes as a Christian and renews me every day in the image of his son, preparing me for glory. We know that resurrection lightning strikes whenever we stand at the grave of a loved one who's gone to be with the Lord. I want to tell you, there's no more helpless feeling in the world than experiencing death of someone you love and someone you respect. There's no more hopeless feeling because you're powerless to change it. You can say it's not true, it's not true, it's not true, but then the reality comes home. It's true. It's true. What do you do? What do you do if you do not believe in what Jesus did on that cross? What do you do? How can you stand? I hope you have 1 Corinthians 15 because we're going to close with this. Now, when you come to 1 Corinthians 15, all of it's laid on the line. Here it is. This is why you're here this morning. This is the ultimate targeted lightning of God, whether or not you believe this doctrine. Here it is. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 12. But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how come there are some of you who say there is no resurrection of the dead? Now watch this. If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. You know what that means? The word Christ there is Messiah. There's no messiah. If there's no resurrection, there is no messiah. Every religion of the world that claims to have an answer must produce a resurrected Savior. The Buddhists don't have one. The Hindus don't have one. The Muslims don't have one. The Jehovah's Witnesses don't have one. The cults of the world don't have one. All of the religions of the world that claim to have access to God have no Messiah because without resurrection, there is no Messiah. That's what makes Christianity unique. We believe that our God died on a cross and rose from the dead. If there is no resurrection, we have no Messiah. He doesn't stop there. He says, verse 13, if there's no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not raised, verse 14. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless. You know what that says to me right now? It says, wrap it up, pal. You're a useless person. You know, when we lost our son, in fact, my wife and I were laying in bed last night talking about this. The whole of our being was put to the test. My whole life calling. The purpose for which we exist, inscribed on our rings, that speaks of seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The way we raised our children, what we taught them, what we taught Mark. My calling in the ministry. And as I've told you before in the past, it's not an easy calling to preach the gospel. The values with which we live. The devotion with which we try to teach this book. And on and on the list, all of it's put to the test. And you know you come to a conclusion. You say to yourself, if this isn't true, then my whole purpose in life has been a big joke. And guess what? As a preacher of the gospel, the joke's not only on me, the joke's also on you. Because you're sitting here saying, I believe it. I believe it. And then he goes on. He says even further. He says, more than that, we are then, verse 15, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead, but he did not raise him, if in fact the dead are not raised. Christianity has then misrepresented itself to the major religions of the world. And then something like this, which appeared in the paper yesterday, is true. Here's an ad for a church. Do you believe a church should welcome all people, not just believers? Yes. Do you believe all persons have inherent worth and dignity? No. Not according to the scriptures. Do you believe it's right to have questions about religious beliefs? Yes. Do you believe that fixed creeds and doctrines limit a person's spiritual search? No. Do you believe the kingdom of God is among us and not in some sort of afterlife? Do you believe that religious truths are found in all the world's great religions? If you do, then join us. You see, basically, in this church and many like them, this one here, and many like them. You really don't have to believe anything. Just be a new ager. Think like a new ager. You know, become a movie star. Think like Barbara Streisand or Oprah Winfrey. Or who's that other one? That comedian. Think like these people think. You see, that's politically correct. It's socially correct, but it's biblically wrong. Everything we say we believe about the gospel of Jesus Christ is rooted in the physical, bodily resurrection of our God who died on the cross. You remove the resurrection. There is no Christianity. There is no gospel. There is no Savior. My preaching is useless. Your faith is useless, and we have misrepresented to the world the Bible's true perspective. Pack it all in. Let's all quit this church, burn down the building, and go join this church over here. Because you see, you don't have to believe anything. But our Bible's very, very clear. You remove the cross, you remove the resurrection, you remove the physical return of Jesus Christ. And I can tell you this: when you bury a child or a parent or a loved one who knows the Lord, you don't have any hope. And that's what he says here. Look in verse 17. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you're yet in your sins. Those who have fallen asleep in Christ are asleep. They're just lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. Now may the grace of God, the love of our Lord and our Savior, Jesus the Christ, the very presence, person, and power of His Holy Spirit abide with each of you now until Christ comes again and forevermore. And all God's people.