WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:03.359 Super excited about what we're going to talk about today because it is different. 00:00:04.000 --> 00:00:04.719 It is different. 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:15.199 And this is a message that all week long, really for the last several weeks, it's been mulling about in my head, and I've had a lot of conversations with God about it, and He's done a lot of little things just to help bring it together. 00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:16.079 At least I think so. 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.239 We'll find out when it's all said and done. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:22.800 But we're going to talk about something today that that, well, I'm just going to tell you what it is up front. 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.640 It's the joy of suffering. 00:00:25.199 --> 00:00:26.559 The joy of suffering. 00:00:26.719 --> 00:00:28.480 Yeah, you're like, I should have slept in. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:29.760 Shouldn't I not come? 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:31.440 The joy of suffering. 00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:34.560 Let me kind of back up for a second and give some context to this. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:40.000 We're in a series that we started a few weeks back called Unbreakable Joy. 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:41.520 Unbreakable Joy. 00:00:41.600 --> 00:00:43.600 What we're doing is actually studying the book of Philippians. 00:00:43.759 --> 00:00:47.439 Philippians, if you're not familiar, was written to a church at Philippi. 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:49.520 It's a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to them. 00:00:49.600 --> 00:00:52.079 He had started a church in a city called Philippi. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:53.439 He was very close with those people. 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:55.359 And then he moved on to start other churches. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:00:59.039 And later in life, he got imprisoned for his faith. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.439 And he writes a letter from prison to the Christians in Philippi. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:04.799 We call that letter Philippians. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:18.159 And you would think, because Paul wrote it in prison, and Roman prisons, not a good experience, you'd think that he'd be somber, that it would be like just filled with, please pray for me, I'm at the end of my rope, please help. 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:19.920 But it's it's not like that at all. 00:01:20.159 --> 00:01:27.680 In fact, if you forget that Paul wrote Philippians in prison, you would think that this is someone in the prime of their life. 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:29.519 Life is going incredibly well. 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:31.519 They are just, they're doing awesome. 00:01:31.680 --> 00:01:36.719 Everything must be great because Philippians is filled with all these expressions of deep joy. 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:39.439 Deep joy. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:51.760 And if you look at Philippians through this lens, it really provides us with a blueprint for how to experience deep, lasting, real, and I would say unbreakable joy in our lives. 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.079 And so we're studying Philippians right now with that in mind. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:57.040 Lord, how can I have that kind of joy in my life? 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:08.800 If Paul could have that kind of joy in prison, awaiting possible execution, just for being faithful to you, how can I experience joy in my life when trouble comes my way? 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:13.919 And so we've been looking for the last few weeks at the joy lessons that Philippians gives us. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:17.199 And today we're going to talk about the joy of suffering. 00:02:17.439 --> 00:02:22.159 Now, I recognize that that phrase seems like an oxymoron. 00:02:22.479 --> 00:02:24.000 Like joyful suffering. 00:02:24.319 --> 00:02:24.879 That can't be. 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:28.719 We have lots of phrases like that in our culture, things that when you think about it, they don't make sense. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.360 It's like if someone says they have an unbiased opinion. 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:32.879 Like that's just impossible. 00:02:33.039 --> 00:02:34.960 You can't have an unbiased opinion. 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:37.680 Or if someone says this is your only choice, it's not. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.800 If I only have one, it's not a choice, right? 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:41.759 That's the way that works. 00:02:41.840 --> 00:02:44.080 Or how about this one, like minor miracle? 00:02:44.159 --> 00:02:45.280 Have you ever used that phrase? 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:45.599 Yeah. 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:47.360 Yeah, like a minor miracle. 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:48.479 I've I've used that. 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:50.639 In fact, a few years ago, I experienced one. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:51.759 We were in Chattanooga. 00:02:51.919 --> 00:02:54.639 Chattanooga for a little while was when our kids were younger. 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:56.080 It's like where we would go take vacations. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.120 We'd go up to Chattanooga. 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:00.319 There were lots of things for the kids to do, uh, museums and fun stuff like that. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:06.159 And there was this restaurant in Chattanooga, right on like the square, and it served breakfast, and it was incredible. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:09.199 Like biscuit, anyone a big fan of biscuits and gravy? 00:03:09.360 --> 00:03:16.000 Oh man, you know, like you know those foods that you know as you eat it what it's going to do to you later in the day? 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:17.599 And you just don't care. 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:22.719 You just decide, like, it becomes concrete inside of you, and it's gonna mess everything up, but you're like, it's worth it. 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:24.800 Like some of the best biscuits and gravy I'd ever had. 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:26.719 And so we would go there every time to Chattanooga. 00:03:26.879 --> 00:03:29.520 I was more excited about that restaurant than really anything else. 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:34.560 And because I'm an extrovert and I'm odd, uh, I would I would always go talk to the manager. 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:35.759 My wife hates that. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:40.000 She will always like, please, please, don't go talk to that person. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:45.599 Like, if I see someone that's wearing like a Duke jersey or or some team that I like, I'll be like, I'm gonna go talk to them. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.280 And so she's like, please, you don't know them. 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:48.400 I'm like, I'm about to. 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:50.879 And so, you know, I just do that. 00:03:51.120 --> 00:03:51.680 I do that. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:04:00.639 So I went up to I went up to the manager and I said, Hey, we come here, you know, a couple times a year, and I just want to say, every time we come here, I make sure we eat here for breakfast every day. 00:04:00.719 --> 00:04:02.000 This is my favorite restaurant around. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:03.199 And he goes, Oh, where are you from? 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:04.800 And I said, We're from from Georgia. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:10.159 He goes, Oh, wow, we're we're getting ready to open a new store in this city called Woodstock. 00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:16.560 And I was like, There is a God, okay? 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:19.680 He is, I I knew it before, I knew it before, but now I really know. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:21.439 But it was like a minor miracle. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:27.040 This restaurant that I would drive to Chattanooga excited to eat at, really use it as an excuse to have a family vacation. 00:04:27.199 --> 00:04:32.959 And uh, and he's opening a store here, and it's biscuits and gravy, and I owe about 20 pounds to that store. 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:34.959 So um, I haven't eaten there in a while. 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:36.560 But that's a minor miracle. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:37.680 That's at least the way I saw it. 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:41.839 But when you think about that phrase, minor miracle, a miracle is a miracle, right? 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:43.279 And I do believe that was a miracle. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.360 So just for me, that's how much God loves me. 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.439 Just you know, brought a restaurant here. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:56.720 Um, the phrase joyful suffering or the joy of suffering seems like one of those phrases. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:58.160 That's impossible. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:02.800 How can you have joy and suffering at the same time? 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:14.160 And what we're gonna find out today, or at least my hope and prayer is that we discover this together, is that actually suffering can produce within us a joy that good circumstances never could. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.920 Let's pick up Philippians chapter 1, starting in verse 12. 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:30.639 Paul writes, I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here, and when he says everything that's happened to me, he's talking about some really terrible things, has helped me spread the good news. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:36.319 For everyone here, including the whole palace guard, knows that I'm in chains because of Christ. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:42.720 And because of my imprisonment, most of the believers here have gained confidence and they boldly speak God's message without fear. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:48.560 It's true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry, but others preach about Christ with pure motives. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:52.000 They preach because they love me, for they know that I've been appointed to defend the good news. 00:05:52.079 --> 00:05:54.879 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. 00:05:55.040 --> 00:06:00.879 They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me, but that doesn't even matter. 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:08.800 Whether their motives are false or genuine, their message about Christ, the message about Christ, is being preached either way, so I rejoice. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:17.360 And I'll continue to rejoice, for I know that as you pray for me and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will lead to my deliverance. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:24.319 For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:28.480 And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.000 For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 00:06:32.160 --> 00:06:35.839 But if I live, I can do more faithful, more fruitful work for Christ. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:37.759 So I really don't know which is better. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:39.120 I'm torn between two desires. 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.079 I long to go be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.639 But for your sakes, it's better that I continue to live. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:52.240 Knowing this, I'm convinced that I will remain alive so that I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:59.519 And when I come to you again, you'll have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me. 00:07:00.639 --> 00:07:18.560 Paul in prison, having experienced so many hardships, and he describes later on in other letters the times that he's been beaten, the times that he's been stoned, the times that he's been near death, the amount of suffering that Paul had because he said yes to following Jesus is immense. 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:22.480 And yet he says, This has been such a convenient thing. 00:07:23.199 --> 00:07:27.680 He says essentially, I'm so glad that I'm in prison because it's really helped me do my job. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:43.759 It's one of the interesting things about our faith, it's important for us to always remember this, is that at multiple times throughout history, some of the most powerful organizations, governments, and people that have ever lived have worked extremely hard to exterminate our faith. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:45.040 And it's never worked. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:51.519 In fact, very often, those those same groups and entities do so much to advance the message of Jesus. 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:53.279 Take Rome, for example. 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:58.399 Like Rome worked really hard to stamp out Christianity, but we owe a lot to Rome. 00:07:58.639 --> 00:07:59.839 Rome did this amazing thing. 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:04.800 They built roads everywhere, they united this whole area, like half the world, into a common language. 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:12.079 They made it really easy for the disciples of Jesus to go all over the world and preach the message of Jesus to cultures that could never have had that happen otherwise. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:13.519 And so, really, thanks, Rome. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:15.199 You helped us out a lot. 00:08:15.600 --> 00:08:20.639 And Paul says that his imprisonment has opened so many doors. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:26.000 He's able to preach and share with the palace guard. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.240 This is a group known as the Praetorian Guard. 00:08:28.319 --> 00:08:35.519 They would end up becoming really the king makers of the Roman Empire, some of the most important people in Rome, and he gets to share the message of Jesus with them. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:42.879 All kinds of important people hear Paul preach, and the news of Jesus spreads through imprisonment. 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:49.840 And Paul says, I'm filled with joy because my hardship has actually helped me accomplish my goal. 00:08:50.480 --> 00:08:54.960 And he goes on to describe that even if he dies, even if he dies, it's gain. 00:08:55.200 --> 00:08:57.679 It's like even if I die, I win. 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:04.559 He has this mentality, this attitude, this joy that is, man, it's it's powerful, it's unique. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:08.639 I want to pause here for a moment, we'll come back to this. 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:13.600 But there's an observation that this reminded me of, and I'm wondering how many of you have had the same observation. 00:09:13.679 --> 00:09:19.519 I want you to think for a moment about people in your life who have had the most joy. 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:27.279 A person, maybe, that in your experience has had more of a solid, unshakable joy than anyone else that you've ever known. 00:09:27.440 --> 00:09:33.120 They don't complain, they don't fret, like they don't get all tied in knots when something goes wrong. 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.519 They just have this constant joy. 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:37.759 And I hope you have someone in mind. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:38.639 I have a few. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:50.879 My question for you is is that person that you're thinking of, is that person who is the most, is that person the most circumstantially well-off person you know? 00:09:51.360 --> 00:09:55.440 Like that extremely joyful person, unshakable, unbreakable joy. 00:09:55.519 --> 00:10:01.120 Does that person happen to be someone who is circumstantially better off than anyone else that you know? 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:02.639 Maybe the answer is yes. 00:10:02.879 --> 00:10:09.120 Like, yeah, they're they're full of joy and they're they're wealthy and they're healthy and they're fit and they're attractive and everything's going great for them. 00:10:09.840 --> 00:10:20.480 But if you're like me, oftentimes the people who have the most joy, the most constant joy, are actually people who have suffered greatly. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:25.440 They're not people who necessarily are joyful because everything's gone well. 00:10:25.600 --> 00:10:26.399 I'll give you an example. 00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:32.000 The person that came to my mind, and I'm actually I'm gonna try really hard not to tear up when I talk about this person, uh, because I love them and miss them very much. 00:10:32.080 --> 00:10:33.919 Uh, my grandmother came to my mind. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:40.799 My grandmother, they Lifetime should make a movie about my grandmother's life because uh her life was was insane. 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:50.639 This is a picture of my grandma with my mom, and uh my grandma passed away when I was uh 21, right before I got married, and uh I miss her greatly. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.360 Um, huge part of my life growing up. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:57.919 My grandma was the most joyful person I ever encountered. 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:02.559 I I never saw her complain, I never saw her upset. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:08.240 Every time I walked into her little tiny apartment, she had the biggest smile on her face and she wasn't faking it. 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.200 You know how when you're around people that are pretending to be happy? 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.679 But it's a it you always see cracks in that. 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:14.480 Not my grandma. 00:11:14.559 --> 00:11:19.759 So let me tell you a little bit about her story, because this is to understand how this woman had this much joy, it's it's amazing. 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:23.360 Um so my grandma was the youngest of three kids. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:25.519 She had an older brother and an older sister. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:35.679 And her parents were both alcoholics, and her older brother, who was kind of like her protector, her parents being alcoholics, her older brother was the one that really took care of her when she was young. 00:11:35.840 --> 00:11:38.639 He died tragically, fell off of a horse, and died. 00:11:38.879 --> 00:11:41.200 And this was right around the Great Depression. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:47.039 And so my my grandma, my mom was the seventh of eight children, and so her parents were were much older. 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:49.600 My grandpa was born in 1917, right? 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:52.799 So he was he was an old, old man from the time I remember. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:57.600 And so when her older brother died, her parents got divorced. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:10.240 And because her father was half Native American, his his one of his parents was full-blood Native American, my grandma grew up during the Depression on an Indian reservation in Oklahoma with her father. 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:14.480 Her mother left and took her older sister with her, so that family was split apart. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:21.279 Now, her older sister would go on to live an incredible life, like a I mean, really, they should make a movie about this. 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:43.519 So uh her older sister would go during World War II and be a secretary for the United States uh in that war in France and in Czechoslovakia, and while she was there, she met this man named Marcel Albert, and I'm gonna show a picture of him real quick because uh he is one of the most decorated uh war heroes of World War II, and I'm not just saying that. 00:12:43.679 --> 00:12:46.000 So this is my grandmother's sister's husband. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:47.200 So they got divorced, right? 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:49.200 She goes to Indian Reservation, Oklahoma. 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:55.120 Her sister goes, ends up during World War II, uh being in Czechoslovakia in France, meets this man. 00:12:55.200 --> 00:13:07.519 This man was a French fighter pilot, and when France got conquered by by Germany early in the war, he went and fought on the Soviet front, and he flew in 262 combat missions in World War II. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:17.120 Ended up being one of the most decorated uh fighter pilots of that era, and was is highly, highly celebrated uh in, especially in Russia, because that's where he fought. 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:24.080 So this is actually a statue of my my great uncle by marriage uh at a US embassy with Russia. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:29.279 And so obviously uh relations with Russia kind of go up and down over the years, right? 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:34.879 Weirdest thing, he got this huge medal uh pinned on his chest by a dude named Joseph Stalin. 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.120 It's kind of crazy to think about, right? 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:39.600 So that's that's my grandma's sister. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:50.080 She goes off and she lives honestly this pretty glamorous life, being married to a war hero and all kinds of banquets and gallas and awards and crazy stuff like that, but not my grandma. 00:13:50.320 --> 00:14:01.279 My grandma ends up in southern Missouri, and her father starts a small bar in this rural southern Missouri area, a bar that he will later be shot and killed in in a bar fight. 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:03.200 She gets married at 15. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:06.480 Um, yeah, that's yeah, one of the young people's like, what? 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.320 Uh that happened back in the day. 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:09.360 She got married at 15. 00:14:09.440 --> 00:14:11.039 She ends up having eight children. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.919 Her two oldest boys die before she dies. 00:14:14.320 --> 00:14:18.240 And uh my mom, again, seventh of the eight children. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:27.440 When she was young, she developed a juvenile arthritis, which doesn't sound like a big deal, but what ended up happening as she got older is that progressed. 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:30.240 Medicine's come a long way, what we know about things like that has come a long way. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:35.039 Basically, all the advice and treatment she got back then was the exact opposite of what they would do today. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:39.279 So my grandma had rheumatoid arthritis, and that is something very painful. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:45.360 Many of you may have that, but she actually was in the top 1% of people in terms of severity. 00:14:45.600 --> 00:14:46.799 So here's what that meant. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:48.879 Um, I have no memories of my grandma walking. 00:14:49.039 --> 00:14:53.440 By the time I was around, uh, she had one leg that was significantly shorter than the other. 00:14:53.600 --> 00:14:59.600 All of her fingers were like turned up because of the arthritis, and she couldn't grab things to eat. 00:14:59.679 --> 00:15:06.879 She had to kind of do this and uh just wasn't able to use her hands like a normal person could, couldn't walk, couldn't get around. 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:10.960 She had a walker and she could kind of scoot a little bit, but she wasn't independent at all. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:15.679 Um, when I was actually in high school, one day her neck just broke. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:21.840 Just because of the brittleness of her bones and the the way the arthritis had attacked her body, uh, her neck just broke. 00:15:21.919 --> 00:15:26.480 Just sitting in a chair, just fractured, and she had to have, it was just crazy what she went through. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:37.279 And so, my entire life, my grandma, who had gotten divorced from her husband, uh, sat in this tiny little assisted living apartment by herself. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:45.279 95% of the time, we would come visit, and we would spend whole days in this, I mean, the smallest apartment you can even imagine. 00:15:45.759 --> 00:16:02.879 And all of my memories in that tiny middle of nowhere, Seymour, Missouri, that tiny little apartment with a grandma who is disabled in constant pain, those are some of the most joyful memories of my childhood. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:17.039 You know, you think going and visiting grandma, and this this is a grandma who doesn't have a yard to play in, she doesn't have, she doesn't have cool stuff, but there's some of the most joyful memories of my childhood because my grandmother was filled with joy. 00:16:17.279 --> 00:16:22.559 She couldn't walk, she couldn't even even eat like most people can. 00:16:23.519 --> 00:16:27.360 She sat still in this chair day in and day out. 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:29.519 And television wasn't even as good back then. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:40.799 I mean, come on, like there's no and being at her house for hours on end was the highlight of my day because she was filled with joy. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.759 Now, I never got a chance to actually ask her about that. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.879 I was too young to fully appreciate it at the time. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:17:00.480 But what I do know is next to her was always a Bible, and I have a feeling that she was very well acquainted with the teachings of the Apostle Paul on suffering. 00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:11.200 Her joy amidst her constant pain and suffering showed me that my grandma had a very well-developed, and this is a word we're gonna put on the screen, it's a real word, sufferology. 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:12.799 Sufferology. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:20.000 Uh, our faith has all kinds of ologies, like if you've ever heard the term Christology or Christology, that is the way we think about Jesus Christ. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:34.000 There's a word soteriology, which is the way we think about salvation, and there is actually this word sufferology, that is the way that we think about suffering, specifically in the context of our faith and what God teaches us. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:49.200 And what I can say confidently is that most American Christians may have great Christology, you might have great soteriology, but most American Christians have really poor sufferology. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:57.119 Because we haven't been taught what suffering really looks like and means. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:06.079 Most of us have been at least in some way, either directly or indirectly, just because of the world that we live in, we're influenced by this thing called the prosperity gospel. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:07.279 How many of you have heard that phrase? 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:08.720 Right. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:13.359 It basically means, you know, God loves you, and because he loves you, he blesses you. 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:18.559 And he blesses you circumstantially, and you are just, you know, if you've ever heard the phrase too blessed to be stressed, right? 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.000 It's this idea that God loves us, yes, but how does he prove his love for us? 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:26.720 How do you really know God loves you? 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:28.960 Think about that. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:36.319 Beyond just believing it because you're taught that because scripture tells us, how do you actually know that he loves you? 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:45.440 And what the prosperity gospel, which has really influenced our entire nation, and even if you haven't grown up in church, you've you've had these ideas. 00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:47.440 Definitely they've affected you. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:57.359 The way that the prosperity gospel has taught us to understand the proof of God's love is that he loves us and he proves his love for us by making life good. 00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:01.920 So you know that you're loved by God when things go well for you. 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.880 When business is booming, when there's a lot in the bank account, right? 00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:08.960 When all the seats in the church are full. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:22.960 That's the way you know that God loves you when you're a pastor, when you're healthy, when your kids are succeeding, when everything's going great, man, God, he loves you and he's proving it because look how well things are going. 00:19:23.359 --> 00:19:25.200 And is there truth to that to some degree? 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:25.599 Sure. 00:19:25.759 --> 00:19:33.599 God loves us and does he and can he show that love to us by by giving us good things? 00:19:33.759 --> 00:19:34.559 Yeah, absolutely. 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:38.240 But if that's the way he proves his love to us, well, what does it mean when we're suffering? 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:42.880 What does it mean when there's tragedy in our lives? 00:19:43.680 --> 00:20:07.839 When the job isn't going well, when marriage is rough and struggling, when we can't find we can't find work, when we can't seem to find a good romantic partner, when when our kids are doing really poorly and they're struggling in some way, when we get sick, when the diagnosis isn't what we want it to be, either in ourselves or in someone we love, is God not love us anymore? 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:14.880 See, that prosperity gospel has taught us that God's love is always connected with circumstantial success. 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:24.480 And I'm even working really hard right now, not to say circumstantial blessing, because I've been trained as part of this culture to associate circumstances being good with blessing. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:27.519 That those are the same thing, and they're not. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:30.000 Give an example. 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.039 My mom and I had a conversation uh yesterday or the day before. 00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:38.319 My mom lives in Missouri, she sells furniture, and shout out to my mom, she's an incredible furniture salesperson. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.720 She sold a million dollars worth of furniture last year. 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:41.920 That's a lot of couches. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:43.119 You know, no, think about that. 00:20:43.279 --> 00:20:44.720 That's a lot of couches, yeah. 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:57.119 Um she actually won an award at her company, and they do, you know, if any of you who work in sales know that it's it's kind of a thankless job because you'll you'll kill it, you'll hit some record, and then your bosses are like, great, do it again. 00:20:57.279 --> 00:20:59.279 And actually, we've increased your goals now. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:01.200 You're like, oh, okay, why? 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:01.839 Just because. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:03.519 You know, because we want you to do more. 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:05.440 And so, you know, she's in one of those those roles. 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:06.720 And so they do all kinds of things. 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:14.880 There's competitions, and they, you know, any type of sales job that's highly competitive, they're trying to do everything they can to motivate you, and one of the greatest motivators is competition. 00:21:14.960 --> 00:21:16.960 You know, you want to beat other people. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:18.400 That's the way the world works. 00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.279 And so my dad just shared this picture with me a few days ago. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:25.680 I'm not gonna share it with you, it's just a snapshot of a of like a bracket, basically. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:31.599 And my mom came out on top of this bracket of all the salespeople in her in her furniture company. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:38.559 And one of the people that she works with, this younger guy, said, Oh, I guess God loves you more than that guy. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:40.160 That's what he said. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:41.680 And that makes sense, right? 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:48.720 That's my mom talks about her faith all the time, and the guy was he's not really a believer, but he just shared, wow, I guess that means God God really does love you. 00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:50.640 Because look, you're doing better than everybody else. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:51.920 So God loves you more than them. 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:57.519 And for this guy, he equates God's love with life going well. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:22:04.400 And we even, again, we We tend to use the word blessed to mean circumstantially well off. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:10.240 But scripture teaches us an incredibly different kind of blessing. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:26.000 So, if you're tracking with me, we've all grown up in this modern American world, whether you've grown up in church or not, that has taught us, hey, God proves his love by rescuing you from trouble, by zapping you and making you instantly better and everything's good and making everything work out. 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:27.519 And sometimes he does that. 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:32.000 But if that's how he proves his love, then it means when things aren't going well, I guess he doesn't love you anymore. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:32.960 Something has changed. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:41.119 Let me read to you something really interesting that was written by a man named Brother Lawrence, Fred, who spoke uh last week. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:42.480 Was that last week, Fred? 00:22:42.559 --> 00:22:42.880 Was it? 00:22:42.960 --> 00:22:44.079 Good job, Fred's back there. 00:22:44.240 --> 00:22:46.720 Fred turned me on to this guy years ago, had me read this book. 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:51.599 Brother Lawrence was a monk who lived, I believe, in France in the 1600s. 00:22:51.839 --> 00:22:53.519 And his writings have survived. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:57.920 At one point in time, they were, uh, other than the Bible, the most well-read writings in our faith. 00:22:58.079 --> 00:23:04.640 He just had incredible observations about the Lord because he spent his entire life living in close relationship with Jesus. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:08.720 And let me read you something that he wrote to someone that he was close to who was suffering. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:10.480 This is again the 1600s. 00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:16.960 Think about this and compare it to the ideas maybe you've grown up with in the sort of prosperity gospel, too blessed to be stressed. 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:19.119 God loves me and He's going to make everything work out. 00:23:19.359 --> 00:23:22.880 He says, I do not pray that you may be delivered from your pains. 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:33.279 But I pray God earnestly, but I pray that God earnestly, pray to God that He earnestly would give you strength and patience to bear them as long as He pleases. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:42.160 I wish you could convince yourself that God is often, in some sense, nearer to us and more effectually present with us in sickness than in health. 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:45.839 He often sends diseases of the body to cure those of the soul. 00:23:46.880 --> 00:23:52.480 I have been often near expiring, but I never was so much satisfied as then. 00:23:52.960 --> 00:24:01.759 Accordingly, I did not pray for any relief, but I prayed for strength to suffer with courage, humility, and love. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:05.680 Oh, how sweet it is to suffer with God. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:09.680 That is very different than too blessed to be stressed. 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:10.400 Right? 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:13.119 Now, I'm not saying he's 100% right. 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.720 He didn't write the Bible. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:22.400 I'm not saying some of you are like, are you saying that God sends us physical ailments and sicknesses to help the soul? 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:24.640 I'm not necessarily saying that. 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:36.160 But what I am saying is that that's a far cry from you know God loves you and favors you because He He makes you healthy and wealthy and everything you touch succeeds. 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:37.279 It's a far cry. 00:24:37.440 --> 00:24:38.960 Those are kind of polar opposites. 00:24:39.119 --> 00:24:40.079 Can we agree on that? 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:43.599 So something changed between the 1600s and today. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:51.359 Because that's a theology, or at least changed in our thinking, because that's a theology that you just don't find back then. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:53.039 So here's what I want to do. 00:24:53.119 --> 00:24:54.640 I want us to look at some scripture. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:56.559 I believe fully, and we teach this. 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:02.880 That's why we teach from the Bible, not just sprinkle a few verses in, that God's word is truth, and it's truth you can build your life on. 00:25:03.039 --> 00:25:05.200 So, what does scripture have to say about suffering? 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:14.720 Let's read a few and see uh is this closer to what Brother Lawrence said in the 1600s, or is it closer to uh too blessed to be stressed? 00:25:14.799 --> 00:25:15.519 Here we go. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:17.119 Romans 5. 00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:26.319 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:29.519 And endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:36.480 And hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.079 2 Corinthians 1, 8 and 9. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.000 We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. 00:25:44.079 --> 00:25:49.440 We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:51.839 In fact, we expected to die. 00:25:52.640 --> 00:25:59.599 But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and we were we learned to rely only on God who raises the dead. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:01.680 First Peter 4. 00:26:01.920 --> 00:26:07.839 Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials that you're going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:09.440 Instead, be very glad. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:20.799 For these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:23.039 Second Corinthians 4. 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:27.039 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. 00:26:27.119 --> 00:26:28.960 We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 00:26:29.119 --> 00:26:31.200 We're hunted down, but never abandoned by God. 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:33.119 We get knocked down, but we're not destroyed. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:40.480 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:48.000 Yes, we live under constant danger of death because we serve Jesus, so that the life of Jesus will be evident in our dying bodies. 00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:52.720 So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:59.839 But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, I believed in God, so I spoke. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:05.359 We know that God who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to himself together with you. 00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.279 All of this is for your benefit. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:14.799 And as God's grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:17.200 That is why we never give up. 00:27:17.599 --> 00:27:24.720 Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day, for our present troubles are small and won't last very long. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:30.720 Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:32.720 I've got one more. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:34.319 Romans 8. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:37.359 You've not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:40.480 Instead, you received God's spirit when he adopted you as his own children. 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:42.160 Now we call him Abba Father. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.720 For his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:49.119 And since we're his children, we are his heirs. 00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.960 In fact, together with Christ, we are heirs of God's glory. 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:58.880 But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. 00:28:00.799 --> 00:28:16.160 I could read a lot more, but what I can tell you is that clearly, clearly, Scripture teaches this way of thinking about suffering very different than our world, very different than maybe many of us have been raised even in church to see. 00:28:18.000 --> 00:28:26.319 That suffering is purposeful, and that suffering ultimately is for our good. 00:28:29.279 --> 00:28:41.920 I mean, honestly, this is kind of hard to say this, and I hope this isn't taken the wrong way, but it's very clear if you read the Bible that God is comfortable with his most dearly loved and closest servants suffering much. 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:49.759 And if we associate his love with lack of suffering, then we would say, well, he must not love people very well. 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:55.119 I mean, like, think about anyone, if you've grown up in church, and if not, um, just think about Jesus. 00:28:55.200 --> 00:29:00.319 But think about anyone that you're familiar with in the Bible, and you would say, Man, that person, wow, what an inspiration. 00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:02.240 What an incredible godly life. 00:29:02.400 --> 00:29:06.480 Man, if I could have a relationship like they had with God, oh Lord. 00:29:06.880 --> 00:29:08.640 I don't know who you're thinking of. 00:29:09.599 --> 00:29:14.160 Ask yourself now, would you trade your circumstances today for theirs? 00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:19.279 Like if you know the scriptures, you're like, nope, nope, I'm good. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:26.079 Like, Lord, I want to be closer to you, but just in that sort of magical way, or you know, you just kind of like zap me and make me better. 00:29:26.400 --> 00:29:28.559 Like one time, I learned this the hard way. 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:31.039 One time I prayed that God would give me more bandwidth. 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:36.079 I was young, working on staff here, and uh, bandwidth was this word that my boss used all the time. 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:39.599 He wanted us to have bandwidth, and so I asked God for bandwidth. 00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:45.519 And then I had a meeting, and they just doubled the number of things I was responsible for at the church. 00:29:45.759 --> 00:29:48.160 And I was like, that's not what I meant by bandwidth. 00:29:48.319 --> 00:29:48.559 Right? 00:29:48.720 --> 00:29:54.559 Lord, I meant just zap me and instantly make me better at everything so that what I'm doing now feels like less. 00:29:54.720 --> 00:29:57.119 And God was like, if you want bandwidth, here you go. 00:29:57.359 --> 00:29:58.000 Boom. 00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:02.480 Double the to-do list, figure out some bandwidth, right? 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:04.559 It's like I had to rely on him. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:13.039 Oh, Lord, like actually you gave me something that made me rely on you, and my relationship with you, the depth of relationship that I have with you grew. 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:26.720 If you look at the prophets, when God called a man to be a prophet, whether it's Elijah or Jeremiah, it was not like, hey, this is gonna be great. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:28.000 This is gonna be a lot of fun. 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:35.680 Like you're gonna go and you're gonna be my guy, and you're gonna preach my message to all the people, and they're gonna hate you, and they're gonna try to kill you, and you're gonna have to live in the wilderness. 00:30:36.640 --> 00:30:37.279 Right? 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:43.839 Jesus suffered greatly, and not just at the end. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:47.200 Jesus was well acquainted with suffering. 00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:50.720 That's actually a prophecy of him in Isaiah, that he was a suffering servant. 00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:58.240 And the Lord, the Father, loved Jesus the Son, so much, and yet he suffered. 00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:07.119 And so, as I read Paul and Philippians and this idea that, hey, I'm in prison and I'm suffering, and isn't this great? 00:31:07.680 --> 00:31:11.200 Isn't it amazing how God has used my suffering to advance his kingdom? 00:31:11.359 --> 00:31:16.559 And even if I die, it's just gain, and and all the writings about suffering leading to glory. 00:31:17.839 --> 00:31:21.599 Something in my thinking needs to change when it comes to suffering. 00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.759