Episode 12- Withstanding Trials

Welcome to week 12 of the Full Armor of God Podcast! This week, we are addressing some big questions and finding encouragement and truth in the Lord's Word. We will be reading (in this order) from Romans 3:10-12, 20 &23; 1 Peter 2:21-24; 1 Peter 3:8-9; Romans 5:6-11; Romans 6:1-14; Romans 8:18; 1 Peter 1:6-9; James 1:12; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and John 16:33. Thanks for listening! 

Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Full Armor of God podcast. My name is Taylor. I will be your host. I am so excited to have you back here for episode 12. Thank you for coming back for another week of the Lord's Wisdom. Today we are talking about enduring hardships and trials. One of the questions that popped up while I was preparing for this message was why do bad things happen to good people? Now, I don't have the answer to this question, but the Lord's word is truth. It is wisdom and it is what we build our lives on. So we are going to his word today to not only pick apart this question, but to also get some insight and encouragement as to how to endure hardships and trials. I want to approach this topic with so much love, knowing that many of you listening have been through remarkable life challenges and unjust circumstances. While I don't know what all of you have been through, I know that we live in a broken, fallen world, like we've talked about, but I also know that we serve a good, good God who loves us dearly. And that's what we are diving into today. For our readings, we're mostly going to be jumping between the book of Romans and the book of 1 Peter. We'll be going through Romans chapter 3, 5, 6, and 8 with various verses throughout. And then 1 Peter chapters 1, 2, and 3. We are also going to read through James chapter 1, verse 12, and 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 24 and 25. I'll be listing all of the verses in the description for you to read back on later this week or to read with me throughout this episode as we go. I encourage you to read these verses either on your own time or with me as we go. It is so good. God's word is so good. And this is such an encouraging word for us today. That being said, let's jump right in. Now there are two sides to this coined statement because the world is saying, why don't bad things happen to bad people? And good things happen to good people. The first note is that sin has bad outcomes. When one commits sin, there are consequences to it, and usually it affects more than just that person. So a hardship that we might be enduring may not necessarily be a result of our sin. It could be a ripple effect. One example that we could list is that if a spouse were to cheat on their husband or wife, the family separates and the children are affected also. So that spouse that was left and the children are potentially more affected than the spouse that committed the sin itself. So sin does have bad outcomes and it does affect more than just the person who's committing it. The second note is the why do bad things happen to good people statement is based on the assumption that all people are good, that humans are good by nature. Paul actually touches on this in the book of Romans in chapter 3, verses 10 through 12. He's quoting Psalm 14. He says, as it is written in the Psalms, there is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless. There is no one who does good, not even one. Paul is not only quoting Psalm 14, he's setting the stage for what he's about to say next. Because in verse 20, Paul says, Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in God's sight by the works of the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of our sin. We see how we fall short of God's glory every single time. We see how we fall short of his laws every single time. But the good news that Paul points out in verse 23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Paul is saying, No one is good, but thank goodness for Jesus. Thank goodness for God's grace, because he freely covers all of us. We're gonna take a look at the book of First Peter, which is just an incredible book that lays out a blueprint for how to live until Christ's return. And I want to point out a few verses here. In 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 21, he says, To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his step. And then he quotes the prophet Isaiah when he says he committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. Then Peter writes again, when they hurled their insult at him, he did not retaliate. When he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. For by his wounds you have been healed. And then in chapter 3, verses 8 through 10, Peter writes, Finally, all of you be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you are called so that you may inherit a blessing. We're going to talk about the blessing that we're going to inherit in a minute. But if Jesus is our example, if he is the goal, then we fall short every time. How many times do we repay evil with blessing or insult with encouragement? Look at how good Jesus is. He really is the only one who is truly good, without sin, without blemish, the perfect Lamb of God. And look at what the world did to him. He was beaten, he was mocked, he was crucified on a cross with us on his heart the whole time. Those hurling insult at him, he died for. Those beating him, he died for. You and I today, he died for. He had the power to stop it all at any moment, but he endured it all for you and for me. We're gonna flip back to the book of Romans, now in chapter 5, verses 6 through 11. Paul writes, You see, at just the right time, when we are still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him? For if while we were God's enemies, while we were sinning, we were reconciled to him through the death of his son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life? Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He really is the only one who is truly good. And he was treated with deceit, he was treated with contempt, he was beaten, he was mocked, he was hung on a cross. Paul is saying, if God was chasing after us while we were still sinning, and he went to the cross to bear our sin, to bear our shame, while we were still dead in our sins, and through our sins we were reconciled to him. How much more are we saved through him who is alive? I mean, thank goodness our God is so good. So the short answer to this question that we started with is that really no one is good except our God. We serve a good, good God who loves us even when we are dead in our sins. Which leads us to our next question of why continue to be a good person? What's all this for? If he's gonna love me when I'm sinning, he's gonna love me when I'm being righteous. So why live a life that is righteous when I can live a life of sin? And he's gonna love me no matter what. Because as we've seen, the trials and the hardships are going to come, whether we're being righteous or we're living a life of sin, because we live in a broken world. This is where it gets good in Romans chapter six. Stick with me. We're gonna read verses one through fourteen. Dead to sin, alive in Christ. Paul says, What shall we say then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means. We are those who have died to sin. How can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who are baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like this, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like this. For we know that our old self was crucified with him, so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin, because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Verse 8. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again. Death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once and for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God. Verse 11, in the same way, count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness, for sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Paul is further explaining what he talked about in chapter five. We are reconciled to Christ in his death, therefore we are even more reconciled to him in his life. When we go through baptism, when we get dunked in the water and we come back up out of it, that is symbolizing us dying to our sin with Christ under the water, being buried with him, and then raising with him up out of the water into our new lives. If we've been united with him in a death like this, we will be united with him in a resurrection like this. It's symbolizing death to our old lives and freedom stepping into our new lives so that we are no longer slaves to sin and we don't have to go about living the way that we used to live before we knew Christ. Now, if you're here saying that's all good and well, I am living out my new life in Christ, no longer a slave to sin, but man, I am encountering every hardship there is under the sun. What the heck does this mean? This next part is for you in James chapter 1, verse 12. He says, Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial, because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. I want to point out something really quick here. Having stood the test, other translations say, for once he has been approved, the Greek word used here is dochemos, meaning tested, approved, or genuine, like a precious metal refined by fire or a coin proven to be authentic. So once we have passed the test, we are worthy of the crown of life. The crown of life is not our salvation, it's not something that we can earn. But the word used for crown is Stephanos. In Greek, this was a word used to describe a wreath awarded to a winner of an athletic competition. Think of this as like an Olympic medal awarded to an athlete who won the race. So it reflects an award earned through performance, not salvation. Scripture is very clear that our salvation is not something we can earn, it's given by grace through faith. So this is a crown for anyone who perseveres or an award for anyone who perseveres to the end of a trial that tests their love for Christ. It's not necessarily a test of whether we believe or whether we are saved, it is a test of spiritual maturity that demonstrates or proves our love for Christ. And the purpose is to bring him glory in this world. This is one of five references to crowns mentioned in the New Testament for believers who excel in serving the Lord through trials, like a measure of our faithful service. And when they are referenced, it's something that does not get revealed until either Jesus comes back or we get called home, until we get to eternity, until we get to heaven. And I don't know what heaven's going to be like. I can't pretend that I know, but the way that it's talked about seems like these crowns or these awards, they play a role in defining our role in the kingdom. Yes, there are different roles and jobs in heaven, and these crowns can potentially play a part in determining the roles that we do have. That is definitely something that is up to speculation. Different scholars have different takes on it, but it's an interesting thing. I just wanted to point out that the crown of life does not equal salvation. James is saying our trials are opportunities to grow and to learn how to be more like Christ and to glorify him in doing so, knowing that ahead of us is the crown of eternal life. What we do in this life and how we handle hardships here matters for our eternity to come. Both Paul and Peter knew this really well in Romans chapter 8, verse 18. Paul writes, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us in eternity. The glory that will be revealed is so much greater than what we're going through right now. And Paul endured so many sufferings, so many hardships, ultimate persecution. Peter knew this too. In his letter in 1 Peter, he is writing to Christians who are being brutally persecuted, I mean put to death, hunted down, and killed for following Christ. He's writing to them to encourage them. And he says in verse 6, in all this you greatly rejoice. Though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come, so that the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. He's pointing out that gold is refined by fire, just like you right now are being refined by fire, but what you're going through is worth so much more than gold itself. The gold will fade away. Your reward will not. Verse 8: Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. If eternity is as big and as infinite as it is, then everything in this life, by definition, is momentary in comparison. It's brief. It is a little while, like Peter says. Finally, in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 24 through 27, Paul writes, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? He says, run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. He's talking about self-discipline. Even when I want to react poorly, even when I want to repay insult for insult. He's saying, I am training my body and my mind and my spirit like an athlete who's running and training for a race so that I can run this race well. I can live this life well to the glory of God because I am chasing after that crown. I know what waits for me on the other side. So dang good. If that's not encouragement to endure hardships and trials with an eternal perspective, I don't know what is. Our world is broken, it is fallen, it is so far from how God designed it to be. In John's gospel, Jesus is speaking encouragement and truth. In chapter 16, verse 33, he says, I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble, but take heart. I have overcome the world. In him we will have peace. He has overcome the world and everything in it. And he's not just on the other side of that finish line saying, Come on, here's your crown, come and get it. He runs the race with us. In me you will have peace, and I have overcome the world. Means that he is with us in and through every trial. Our God is so good and he loves us so much. I hope you found encouragement in this message this week. And I hope, like no other, to endure the trials that are not only here now, but also the ones that are to come. He's with us always. I'll be praying with you and for you this week. I invite you to drop your prayer requests in the comments below after listening to this message so that I can come alongside you and pray with you and for you throughout whatever trial and hardship you are enduring this week, this month, or this year, because you are most definitely not alone in whatever season you're walking through. I hope you have a great rest of your week, and I can't wait to see you next time. God bless.