Jesus Died For Us

Colossians 1:19-23

Pastor Barry Kerner

Jesus is a popular figure these days. A quick search on the internet will give you a vast array of opinions and points of view about Jesus. There’s even a “Jesus Diet,” which gives you an eating plan based on what some people think Jesus ate. One website attempts to tie Jesus to the beginnings of vegetarianism. When it comes to Jesus, the opinions and views expressed are almost without end. Some people see Him as God, others say He was simply a good teacher, and still others deny that He ever existed.

But all opinions about Jesus are just that. It is only in the Scriptures that we find objective insight into the truth about Jesus – who He is, what He did, how He did it, and so forth.

The reliability of the Scripture, and its testimony about Jesus continue to be at the center of our faith. One of the reasons so many professing Christians are carried away into false doctrines is because they do not know what the Scripture says. As born again believers, we’re called to know the scriptures, their truth and the truth they reveal about God.

Paul wrote to the Colossian church under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. He did so to combat false teaching and teach the truth.

Let’s read Colossians 1:19-23

19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of[a] your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.

Let’s now look at 5 questions about Jesus that can only be answered in Scripture – answers that speak to us about the fact that Jesus died for us.

The first question is this – Who is Jesus?

Colossians 2:9 tells us that, “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”

Many scholars believe that part of the problem at Colosse was an early form of Gnosticism. The Gnostics taught that Jesus was a created being, one of many spiritual beings mediating between man and God. Each spiritual being or Aeon would be at a different level depending upon their knowledge. The more knowledge, the higher up in the hierarchy the spiritual being. They taught that the spirit was good but the flesh or body was bad, thus, they said, God, who was perfect goodness, would not and could not dwell in flesh. So they denied the incarnation.

Paul refutes this kind of teaching head on. He says that not only did Jesus reconcile us through the body of His flesh, but he states that in Jesus dwelt the fullness of God. Some of the false teachers, who denied the deity of Jesus said that Jesus was a normal mortal man and that God’s Spirit only settled upon Him for a while. But, remember Paul makes clear that the fullness of God dwelt in Him bodily.

The word fullness is the Greek word from which we get our word “plentitude.” It denotes the totality of divine powers and attributes that reside in Jesus.

The word dwell is interesting. It means to permanently reside. In other words these divine attributes that Jesus possessed were not temporary, as some were teaching, they were and are a part of who He was and is.

The Scripture teaches that Jesus Christ, Son of God, was born of a virgin, with a human body, and a sinless human nature. They teach that in Him perfect humanity and the divine nature coexist.

Remembering, who Jesus is, is one of the most important issues we need to understand and believe. If He is not who He says He is, then He could not do what He said He did, and if He did not do what He said He did then our faith is in vain.

Is it any wonder that the world is trying to redefine who Jesus is? You can see it on the Learning Channel or on Public Broadcasting, or in Time Magazine. There are numerous articles and shows trying to redefine Jesus. As Christians, not only must we know who Jesus is, we must know how to explain Him to others. We must hold firm to the truth that Jesus was completely God and completely human.

The second question is – What did He do?

First, He died for us to reconcile us.

Reconcile means to bring back into proper relationship. Reconcile is only used three times in the New Testament. It means the restoration of a previously existing relationship. Sin puts us at odds with God. Jesus, through His work on the cross, bridged the gap between us and God, making it possible for us, once again, to have a relationship with Him.

Second, He died to bring us Peace.

Peace is the absence of hostility; the presence of tranquility. Peace is not only a cessation of hostility, but the presence of tranquility. Peace looks back to the Old Testament concept of shalom which meant to be healthy, to be whole, the harmony enjoyed when a person’s relationship with God is where and what it should be.

Peace is not only to be sought in our relationships with God and men, it is also a blessed experience in concrete life situations.

• This peace will be with the believer – I Corinthians 1:3
• It will reign in his or her heart – Colossians 3:15
• It will keep his or her heart and thoughts in Christ Jesus – Philippians 4:7
• It comes directly from Jesus – John 14:27
• It is the same peace that Jesus enjoys. It is His peace – John 14
• There is nothing that can rob us of that peace – John 16:33, Romans 8:35-39
• It is an external evidence of the internal residence of the Holy Spirit – Galatians 5:22
• Jesus Himself is our peace – Ephesians 2:14

The third question is –  Why did He die for us?

He died for us because we were Alienated – That was our position, our state of being. Alienation denotes isolation, loneliness and a deep sense of not belonging. It means to be estranged or cut off, separated. This is the natural spiritual state of fallen man.

He died for us because we were Hostile in mind – This defines our attitude towards God. Those who do not know Jesus, who live outside of a relationship with Him and outside of His will, are living in rebellion against Him. They are hostile in their minds, in other words they hate God. Have you ever wondered why some people seem so violently opposed to Christianity? You don’t see them being that opposed to other philosophies or doctrines, but you begin to talk about God or about Jesus and they get down right hateful. Why? Because their very nature, as Ephesians 2:3 says, made them enemies of God.

And, He died for us because we were engaged in evil deeds – Alienated from God, outside of a knowledge of His will, not possessing the ability to discern spiritual things, with a nature and an attitude that is hostile to God and His truth, the natural result is that one’s actions will follow ones attitude.

The fourth question is –  How did He do it?

He reconciled us through the blood of His cross.

A metonym is using the name of one object or concept for that of another to which it is related. ex: “Scepter” for “Sovereignty.” The blood is used as a metonym to describe the entire redemptive work of Jesus. This concept is foundational to our faith.

I came across the website of an organization called, “Atheists for Jesus.” Its founder claimed that while He did not believe in God, in the divinity of Jesus or in any of the miracles, he did think the teachings of Jesus were good and that by the knowledge gained through His teachings we could better ourselves.

This is an expression of modern day Gnosticism. I recently read a publication by Maged Mikhail entitled, “The Gnostics, a survey of Gnostic beliefs.” Mikhail says, “In the Christian framework Jesus Christ being the Son of God and the Son of Man, being without sin, and actually dying and rising from the dead, makes Him the Savior. He did enlighten humanity with His teachings, but the actual salvation was through His deeds not His words . . . To the Gnostics, however, Salvation had a totally different meaning. Salvation was from uncertainty, thus the deeds of the savior figure, whoever he is, are quite unimportant; what is of absolute importance, however, are his teachings.”

Paul wants to make it abundantly clear that it was the sacrifice Jesus made on Calvary’s cross that saved us from our sins, not simply His teaching.

Look at what he says in verse 22: 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation

Knowledge by itself cannot save us. It is what Jesus did on the cross, paying the price for our sins that offers us salvation. Knowledge of that sacrifice offers us the opportunity to accept His free gift of grace. But in order to be useful knowledge must be founded upon truth, so just thinking that Jesus died for our sins, or just wishing it were so would not help us. Jesus, as God in the flesh, died for our sins and rose again. That’s what enables us to be reconciled to God.

But Paul goes on to make another point, a point that is aimed at contradicting false teaching.

Paul speaks of the Body of His flesh through death – Jesus died physically, He was and is fully God and fully human. He could not have died a physical death were He not Human, He could not have been a sacrifice for our sins were He not divine.

It is absolutely essential to our faith that we understand Jesus came in the flesh. He was not simply some spiritual apparition. One of the key teachings of most Gnostic beliefs was a doctrine known as Docetism. The Docetists taught that Jesus was not fully man, because God and man could not dwell in one person. Thus, they said, Jesus was simply a ghost, the Spirit of God disguised to look like a human. Their name came from the Greek word “dokeo” which means, “I seem.” So they said Jesus just seemed to be human but was not. Paul wants to put that false doctrine to rest. Thus, you have such a great emphasis upon the bodily resurrection of Jesus.

The fifth question is –  Why did He do it?

Why did Jesus die for us?

First, He died for us because the Father loves us and there was no other way to be right before God. An acceptable sacrifice had to be made for our sins and that sacrifice was Jesus. Romans 5:17 says, For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

One day we will all stand before God. Each of us will give an account for our works, for our words, for every part of our lives. Those who have been redeemed, who have been reconciled through Jesus will have nothing to explain, all of their sins, all of their shortcomings will be covered by the blood of Jesus.

Second, He died in order to present us Blameless – without accusation. The devil is the accuser of the brethren. He wants to point out all our sins, he wants to keep us in bondage to sin. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, so that when we stand before God no one will be able to point the finger at us, we will be without blame and beyond reproach.

You see, what Jesus did was all we need. He paid it all. When He said, ” It is finished,” it was finished. The deed was done, the sacrifice made, the price for our souls was paid. We don’t need some special revelation, some secret knowledge, something extra on top of what He did. He did it because, as Ephesians 1:9 says, it was the Father’s good pleasure. God wanted to reconcile us to Himself.

A read a story about Starbucks taking four used shipping containers and turning them into a coffee shop. They say they are reclaimed, renewed, and revived. Sounds like what God does in our hearts through the sacrifice of His Son.

Conclusion

Allow me to suggest four practical ways to apply these truths to your Christian experience.

1. Know the Scriptures

His Word will help keep you from sin: “I have treasured Your word in my heart so that I may not sin against You.” – Psalm 119:11

His Word should be precious to us because we love Him:  “I delight in Your commands, which I love.” – Psalm 119:47

His Word is powerful as a weapon: “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word.” – Ephesians 6:17

His Word sanctifies us. Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.” – John 17:17

1. Recognize the difference between position and condition

You have standing with God because of what Jesus has done. You have been declared a saint. The blood of Jesus has washed your sins away. Jesus will present you to His Father someday, spotless, without blame or cause for accusation. Don’t confuse the temporal condition of your spiritual life with your position as a child of God. You have been adopted into the family, made a friend of God, reconciled by the blood of Jesus. No one can take that away.

We can lift our heads and declare, “I am and always will be a child of God.”

1. Walk in the confidence that God loves you

This will keep you from falling prey to the devil’s lies that you have to be good enough to deserve God’s love. God loves you. He sent His Son to die for you before you even knew Him. His love never changes. He will always love you. You could never be good enough for Him to accept you. It is the righteousness of Jesus that makes us acceptable to Him, not our own.

“God loves me and nothing I do will ever change that.”

4. Persevere – Hang in there

His Spirit is there to strengthen you, to enable you, to help you be the person He wants you to be.

When I was a kid I remember playing with a toy clown. It was not a doll. It was an inflatable punching clown. It was rounded on the bottom and had sand in it. Whenever you punched it, it would go back, but then the sand in the bottom would bring it back to a standing position. No matter how many times you punched it, it would always rebound.

That’s the idea Paul is conveying here. We are to keep coming back, keep rebounding to our standing position. The Holy Spirit is deep within us, enabling us to bounce back, regardless of how many times we are knocked down.

Let me close with this thought. Surrender your life to the Lord. Let Him fill you afresh and renew His Spirit within you.

Let us pray.

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Wisdom Is Fearing The Lord

Job 28:28

Pastor Barry Kerner

One of Aesop’s fables concerned a turtle who envied the ducks who swam in the pond where he lived. As he listened to them describe the wonders of the world they had seen, he was filled with a great desire to travel. But being a turtle, he was unable to travel far. Finally two ducks offered to help him. One of the ducks said, “We will each hold an end of a stick in our mouths. You hold the stick in the middle in your mouth, and we will carry you through the air so that you can see what we see when we fly. But be quiet or you will be sorry.”

The turtle loved the idea. He took hold of the stick and away into the sky they went. The ducks flew up above the trees and circled around the meadow. The turtle was amazed and overjoyed at his new perspective on the world. He marveled at the flowers on the hillside. Just then a crow flew past. Astonished at the sight of a turtle flying through the air carried by two ducks he said, “Surely this must be the king of all turtles!”

“Why certainly…” the turtle began—but as he spoke, he lost his grip on the stick and fell to the ground below.

While there are times when we need to speak out and take a stand, more frequently we find ourselves in trouble because we talk too much.

Proverbs 17:28 tells us, “Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise: and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”

Job 28:28 – “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.”

In the midst of his sufferings when Job couldn’t make sense of what was going on in his life with his finite wisdom that he ponders over the question of where man can find true wisdom. The true search of wisdom can only find an end in Christ Jesus.

Job 28 is the passage of the scripture that answers the most important questions of life. The question that the author is trying to answer in this chapter is:

“Where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:12)

The book of Job itself is a remarkable one. This book is categorized in wisdom literature. The book probes into issues near to the heart of every man experiencing pain and suffering.

The book of Job opens with a testimony on the character of Job -God himself testified twice the very same thing that Job was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil”  In fact God Himself said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”

The first few verses of the Book of Job are also dedicated to explaining how extremely wealthy Job was. God had blessed him enough. However, all of a sudden, all of Job’s possessions, including his dear children, were taken away through God-ordained calamities. Job’s entire understanding was challenged. Job’s understanding of wisdom was now shaken to its very roots.

Job strongly felt that he did not deserve to suffer since he had lived an upright life. Job’s plight of unjustifiable misery forces us to ask the question that has been existing since old, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

In the midst of his sufferings when Job couldn’t make sense of what was going on in his life with his finite wisdom that he ponders over the question of where man can find true wisdom. Probably this is the question that would be in each of our minds during this COVID-19 pandemic when all the worldly wisdom is failing.

The chapter, in its search for wisdom, begins with man’s efforts to find treasures and wealth.

Job 28:1-11 – “Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore. Man puts an end to darkness and searches every recess for ore in the darkness and the shadow of death. He breaks open a shaft away from people; In places forgotten by feet They hang far away from men; They swing to and fro. As for the earth, from it comes bread, but underneath it is turned up as by fire; Its stones are the source of sapphires, And it contains gold dust. That path no bird knows, Nor has the falcon’s eye seen it. The proud lions have not trodden it, Nor has the fierce lion passed over it. He puts his hand on the flint; He overturns the mountains at the roots. He cuts out channels in the rocks, and his eye sees every precious thing. He dams up the streams from trickling; What is hidden he brings forth to light.”

The passage begins with the finite wisdom of man in his search for treasures of the earth such as gold, silver, copper, ore and sapphires. Man treads the untrodden places to get them. They are places which neither the birds nor the proud lions have traveled. Man puts his life at risk by overturning the mountains at the roots and cutting out channels in the rocks. With all his great efforts, he brings to light, all the hidden treasures.

However, the author concludes by saying that although man is able to discover all kinds of hidden treasures, he is not able to find wisdom.

Job 28:12 – “But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding?”

Although, man acquires great material possessions and lives a luxurious life, he cannot be considered wise. These are things that cannot stay with him permanently. He must leave them behind once he dies. Even when alive, these riches cannot stay with a person permanently. Job stands himself as an example. He had great riches. He was the greatest man in the East (Job 1:3). But in one stroke, he lost everything. He even lost his health. Now, he questions his wisdom and understanding.

Job realized that true wisdom was not in acquiring material wealth. They are to be left behind once we die. True wisdom lies in obtaining what is of value after our bodies die – winning our souls for eternity.

We can replicate the same in what Jesus said.

Mark 8:36 – “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”

And, Luke 12:16-21 – “Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

In this parable, Jesus condemns the rich man who had a magnificent harvest. He assumed that his wants were covered for many years to come. In fact, he thought that his future would be the one in which he could simply eat, drink, and be merry. Jesus call him a “fool,” as he saw himself secure based on his material possessions and consequently had a false sense of security. He may have been wise in his own eyes, but he was actually a fool.

This is what the author of Job says in Job 28:12-14 –

“But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? Man does not know its value, nor is it found in the land of the living. The deep says, ‘It is not in me’; and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.”

Wisdom cannot be found in the land of the living. It cannot be found in the depths of the earth, or the vastness of the sea. This is very important information since it nullifies all the fruitless search for wisdom in the land of the living. It invalidates the attempt to discover wisdom by even the greatest of human philosophers. The author continues that even if one were to find out where wisdom existed, they cannot obtain it by human means.

Job 28:15 – 19 – “It cannot be purchased for gold, nor can silver be weighed for its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, in precious onyx or sapphire. Neither gold nor crystal can equal it, nor can it be exchanged for jewelry of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral or quartz, for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, nor can it be valued in pure gold.”

Gold, silver, precious gems, coral, quartz, rubies and topaz cannot be exchanged for wisdom.

We even find the value of wisdom in Proverbs 8:11:

“For wisdom is better than rubies, And all the things one may desire cannot be compared with her.”

So, the question remains unanswered.

Job 28:20 – “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?”

Job answers himself:

Job 28:21,22- “It is hidden from the eyes of all living, And concealed from the birds of the air. Destruction and Death say, ‘We have heard a report about it with our ears.”

He concluded that wisdom is hidden from all living – including the rich and the poor, the people who claim to be wise and the fools. Although man has an amazing ability to dig deep the earth and overturn mountains, thereby bringing hidden things to light, wisdom is concealed. Even birds known for their keen eye sight cannot discover wisdom. Wisdom cannot be even found in the ultimate limits of humanity – destruction and death. Death with its afterlife is said to have heard a report that wisdom does exist. Probably, those who reach the death bed or in their afterlife may have a belated understanding of what they missed in life. They may realize that they had missed to apply wisdom during life. However, they cannot go back and apply it retrospectively.

This verse explains the utter futility of human efforts to seek wisdom. Human philosophy and reasoning have tried their best to explain wisdom but the end of everything is destruction and death. When we fail in certain areas in our lives, we begin to question our decisions which we once thought were wise. We begin to search for more precise understanding of wisdom. May be, Job was in a similar position. When he began to suffer miseries in life for reasons unknown to him, he began his quest for wisdom and its ways. However, Job realizes that wisdom cannot be discovered through any diligent human efforts such as philosophy, religion and reasoning.

Then, the question remains: where is the way to wisdom? Job answers:

Job 28:23 – 26: “God understands its way, And He knows its place. For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees under the whole heavens, To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure. When He made a law for the rain, And a path for the thunderbolt.”

God knows of wisdom, and in the poetic sense, where it exists and the way to true wisdom. It is because God alone is omniscient. He is only one who can see all things. Nothing can escape His knowledge. In the words of Job, God sees to the “ends of the earth” and “everything under the heavens.” It was God, who through wisdom, who laid out the laws governing every created thing.

So, Job continues that it was God who created wisdom. He prepared it.

Job 28:27 – “Then He saw wisdom and declared it; He prepared it, indeed, He searched it out.”

We find it also in the proverbs of king Solomon:

Proverbs 8:22- “The Lord possessed me [wisdom] at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old.”

God possesses wisdom as part of His very being.

Colossians 2:3 – “In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

1 Corinthians 1:30a – “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God.”

Thus, God is the only one to whom every person must turn in his search for wisdom.

What has God to say to mankind about wisdom?

Job 28:28 – “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.”

We have other Bible verses also reiterating the same.

Proverbs 9:10 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Psalm 111:10 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.”

What is fear of the Lord?

Fear of the Lord involves two things:

First, it involves loving, honoring, respecting and worshiping the Lord by recognizing His Lordship.

Deuteronomy 10:12 – “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Psalm 33:8 – “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”

Fearing the Lord does involve a deep sense of respect to God and His presence. We must accept His sovereignty over our lives, irrespective of how things turn out. Be it good or bad happening in our lives, we must accept His Lordship. This was an important lesson that Job learned at his most difficult hour. All this while, he was confused and troubled over the Lord allowing evil to happen in his life.

Job, after His encounter with the Lord, says:

Job 42: 5, 6 – “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

This attitude of fearing the Lord and His ways, which in turn lead to repentance, is what the Bible calls – the beginning of wisdom

Second, it involves a good understanding to depart from evil

Psalm 34:11-14 – “Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, And your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.”

Fearing the Lord cannot be disconnected from departing from evil. You cannot cling to sin and claim to fear God. That is not the wisdom of God. That is being wise in one’s own eyes in the words of king Solomon.

Proverbs 3:7 – “Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”

In the book of Ecclesiastes, we find king Solomon’s attempt to understand wisdom and the meaning and purpose of life. In his attempt, Solomon searched out all things under the sun. He finally found out that human wisdom does not answers to life’s questions and problems. Rather, it simply brings grief and sorrow. He concludes the book with his important finding in his quest.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 – “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

Conclusion – If you want to be truly wise, you need to look at Jesus – the source of wisdom. We must fear Him and depart from all our sins. It is he whom the Lord sent to take away our sins.

And how is that possible.

It is not possible by ourselves. Paul writes in Romans 7:19 – “For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.”

How is that possible? Only by looking at the cross.

Wisdom is ultimately manifested in the cross of Christ.

Paul write in 1 Corinthians 1:21-25

“For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Greeks were known for their wisdom. The insights of great Greek philosophers like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Pliny, Galen, and others still seem fresh and relevant today. However, Paul makes an interesting statement in the passage above. The crucifixion of Christ for the salvation of humanity was a foolishness to the wisest Greeks. However, that was the way of God in his wisdom to reach out to humanity. That is the only way for us to Heaven.

I’ll close with this thought. Wisdom can be found in the person and lordship of Jesus Christ as given to us through Scripture. When we seek wisdom we need to listen to it when we find it in God’s Word.

If we’re not going to listen to what God has to tell us why would we even bother to ask? 

This is the attitude James warns about in James 1:5-6 when he says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.”

James tells us: don’t come to God asking for wisdom, and then just ignore the wisdom which he gives. The problem is, we often don’t like the advice we get, so we try to set it aside. But James says, if you ask God for wisdom, and then ignore what He shows you, you’re unstable, and will make no progress in life!

God is even more eager to give to us; James says that He “gives generously.”How great to know that God is not only all-knowing, but generous to boot!

We can be victorious over sin and evil but only through Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 2:14 – “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ.”

The true search of wisdom can only find its end in Christ Jesus.

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Labor Day Rest

Matthew 11:28-30

Pastor Barry Kerner

Good morning and welcome once again to Delphi Falls United Church. I’m Pastor Barry Kerner and I’m glad you could be with us today.

If you’ll open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 11 we’re going to be looking at verses 28-30 today. I’ll give you a few moments to find Matthew 11:28-30 in your Bible.

Before we move into the Word let us go to the Lord in prayer.

Father God, whose hands built the earth, molded our bodies, and sowed the stars across the sky, we gather in your presence this morning with praise and thanksgiving for your mighty deeds. Meet us here, Almighty God; strengthen our hearts and our hands to work with you

in the building of a world filled with justice and peace.

In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray. Amen

In the Disney movie Snow White the seven dwarfs make their way to their diamond mine singing Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho; it’s off to Work We Go.

I love that song, don’t you? Grumpy was always my favorite dwarf. We have changed that song just a little bit over the years haven’t we? We now sing,  “I Owe, I Owe, So It’s Off To Work We Go.” That seems more fitting for us doesn’t it? Perhaps if we had a diamond mine like the dwarfs did, we would enjoy our work just a little more wouldn’t we.

Years ago Country Western singer Johnny Paycheck had a hit song titled Take This Job And Shove It. A song about the hardship of work and life. It seemed that in the song, he was just tired of work wasn’t he?

Today is Labor Day Eve. Labor Day never made much sense to me as I was growing up. My thoughts were that if this is Labor Day, why don’t people work.

Labor Day actually has its roots in Canada back in the 1800”s. some American men who were involved in the labor movement here in the U.S. observed the holiday in Canada and pushed for the holiday here in the U.S.. In 1894 Grover Cleveland proclaimed the first Monday in Sept. as Labor Day. At first it was to recognize the labor unions and their commitment to the American worker. Through the years it has evolved into nothing more than a day off work. There is no special emphasis placed upon this day in honor of labor unions. Instead it has evolved into the weekend that college football starts or the last taste of summer before fall comes.

Labor Day means many different things to many different people. Most of all though, it’s just a day off from work. It’s been several months since the last holiday, the Fourth of July, and we are tired aren’t we?

A Tahoma, Washington newspaper carried the story of Tattoo the basset hound a while back. Tattoo didn’t intend to go for an evening run, but when his owner shut the dog’s leash in the car door and took off for a drive – with Tattoo still outside the vehicle, he had no choice. Motorcycle officer Terry Filbert notice a passing vehicle with something dragging behind it. He commented that the poor basset hound was, “picking them up and putting them down as fast as he could.” He chased the car to a stop, and Tattoo was rescued. But not before the dog had reached a top speed of 25 miles per hour, falling down and rolling over several times.

Too many of us are living our lives like Tattoo, picking them up and putting them down as fast as we can – rolling around & feeling dragged through life.

Time magazine recently noted that back in the 60’s, expert testimony was given to a Senate sub-committee on time management. At that time they predicted that advances in technology would radically change how many hours a week people worked. They forecasted that the average American would be working 22 hours a week within 20 years. “The great challenge,” the experts said, “would be figuring out what to do with all the free time.” Almost 60 years later, after major advances in technology – how many of us are wondering what to do with all the excess time on our hands? It seems the experts were wrong weren’t they.

This past week I asked several people what they were doing for the Labor Day holiday. Most of them told me that they were going to take it easy and rest. They said, “It seems all I do is run around all the time so I’m going to take a day and just rest.”

As I meditated about today’s sermon, the desire of getting or having rest was impressed upon me . How do we truly rest. The Bible has much to say about rest. The Jewish people were constantly seeking rest or refuge in God.

In Joshua Chapter 1, Moses has died and God has told Joshua to lead the Jewish nation across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. Look at how this Promised Land is defined by Joshua as he talks to the tribes of Israel.

Joshua 1:13-15: 13“Remember what Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you: ‘The LORD your God is giving you a place of rest. He has given you this land.’ Your wives, children, and livestock may remain here in the land Moses assigned to you on the east side of the Jordan River. But your strong warriors, fully armed, must lead the other tribes across the Jordan to help them conquer their territory. Stay with them until the LORD gives them rest, as he has given you rest, and until they, too, possess the land the LORD your God is giving them.

True rest can only come through and from God. That was one of the prevailing themes throughout the Old Testament.

In Hebrews 4:1-3 the writer tells us about the rest that can be found through faith in Jesus Christ. God’s promise of entering his rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it. For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God. For only we who believe can enter his rest.

Only those who believe can truly rest. In our scripture this morning, Jesus tells us how we can have true rest. Not just physical but spiritual rest as well. True rest can only come through peace with God.

Let’s look at our scripture. Matthew 11:28-30, Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Jesus shares three things that we need to do in order to truly find rest. First, He says that we must Come To Him, second, we must let Him Carry Our Burdens and third, we must Commit to Him.

Look at verse 28 again: Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Jesus says Come. Come to me Jesus says.

Notice Jesus didn’t say come to church. Rest comes; true salvation comes when we meet Jesus personally. Just being a member of the church doesn’t make you a Christian.

Church membership without that personal relationship with Jesus makes you a hypocrite. You are pretending to be someone you are not. Just because we walk into a garage when someone is working on our car and someone sees us in there doesn’t mean that we are a mechanic. We are just there. The same goes for church membership. Just because we are in the building doesn’t mean we are Christians.

In the same vein, Gathering information about Jesus does not make you a Christian. Joining a group does not make you a Christian. Having Christian parents doesn’t make you a Christian. We must first Come to Jesus if we are to be truly at rest in who we are in this life.

Harrison Ford is an actor. I’m sure most of you have seen some of the movies he has been in. The Indians Jones Movies, Star Wars, etc. He was being interviewed one day and he was asked about his success. He said this, “ a man only wants what he ain’t got” when asked what that was, his answer was “peace”. Everyone is searching for peace or rest for their soul.

Jesus said “Come to me” and I will provide the rest that you are searching for. It is an indescribable rest and peace that you have when you Come to Jesus.

Next Jesus says come to me and I will Carry your burdens. Look at verse 28 again: Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Jesus says to us, “let me carry all these burdens that are on your back making you tired and weary.” In Judaism, the teachers of the law had come up 613 rules and regulations upon the Jewish people in order to be right with God. There were 248 Positive Commandments telling the people what they must do and 365 Negative Commandments telling the people what the must NOT do.  No one could possibly keep all of them and the people were despondent and downtrodden.

They were seeking rest and peace form all this man made religion. Jesus was saying to them, if you are tired of trying to please god by keeping all these rules and regulations that man has put on you, Let me carry your burden of sin and shame and come to me and I will give you rest from all of this. Let me carry this for you. He tells us, “In me you will find rest.”

Some Christians try so hard to be good enough to have a relationship with God but they carry burdens around with them all the time. Am I measuring up? Am I good enough to have eternal life? Has my good outweighed my bad so that I can go to heaven when I die?

Jesus says let me carry those burdens for you. Let me make you good enough. Let me take your place in punishment for sin. I will carry all your sin to the cross with me so that you no longer have to carry your sin.

Before the cross people were hearing that they must work for their salvation. They understood what a works religion Judaism had become. They so desperately longed for a grace that only God could provide.

That all changed after the cross. In Ephesians 2:8-9 the Apostle Paul declares, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.

Try as we might though, sometimes we forget that we are saved by Grace, not by works.

We try to place rules and regulations on ourselves and others in order to be saved. But, Jesus says no, “I will carry your burdens.” He asks, “Aren’t you weary of trying to be good enough?” Then He reminds us, “Come to Me and find rest for your soul as I carry your burden of salvation.” Jesus says “Come and Let Me Carry your sin and then Commit Yourself to my teachings.”

Look at verses 29-30 again. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

A yoke is made of wood and was hand made to fit the particular shoulders of the animal or animals that were to be yoked. The yoke was used to control animals. It was used as a metaphor for submission in the world at that time. Many used the term to describe their allegiance to a particular teacher. They were referred to being under the yoke of a particular teacher or philosophy.

Jesus is saying commit to my yoke. “Commit to my teaching because my yoke is easy.

What I expect from you is different from all you have been taught. Your eternal destiny will no longer be determined by works and rules and regulations. I have a new way to eternal life. Just yoke yourself to me. Commit to my yoke.”

Guess what Jesus’ yoke is? Love God and  Love each other. His two commands.

The yoke of the Pharisees is 613 rules and regulations which can never be fully followed. The yoke of Jesus Christ is two, Love God and  love each other.

When you do this, you will find true rest for yourself. And I’ll tell you that scripture makes it clear that if your soul isn’t able to rest, there’s no way you can find physical rest.

As I close this morning, I want to share some definitions of rest that the dictionary gives and how they parallel with the rest that Jesus offers.

1. Rest is defined as a cessation from action, motion, labor or exertion.

. To enter into God’s rest is to cease all efforts at self-help in order to earn salvation.

2. Rest is defined as freedom from that which wearies or disturbs.

. God’s rest gives us freedom from the cares and burdens that rob us of peace and rest.

3. Rest is something that is fixed and settled.

God’s rest gives us an assurance that our salvation is settled.

Christians have this assurance that eternity is fixed and settled for us through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus said come to me , let me carry you and all you have to do is love God and love each other.

As we celebrate this Labor Day we can rest in that assurance from our Savior Jesus Christ.

Let us pray.

Almighty God, Creator of the world, we give you thanks for the gift of stewardship and work. Deliver us, in our various occupations, from the service of self alone, that we may do our work in truth and beauty and for the common.

God of justice, we pray for all workers, that they would receive fair compensation and treatment in their labor.

For those who seek work, provide jobs — both citizen and immigrant alike. For those who cannot work, provide sustenance. Make those who lead the industries and commerce of this country responsive to your perfect will. Build up in the leaders of our country a respect for all labors. Deliver us, Lord Jesus, from the maligning evils of greed, sloth, and gluttony that we may lead lives of holiness in service to you and our neighbor.

We ask this all in Christ’s name.

Amen

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Weekly Blog With Pastor Barry Kerner

Begin Again

After Calvary Jesus regrouped His disciples, and after convincing them of His resurrection, He commissioned them to their life’s work. This commission given to them is found in Luke 24:47. “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

The Gospel was to be preached throughout the world. The whole earth was to be lit with His Glory. And the disciples were to set this plan going, beginning at Jerusalem. But why Jerusalem? It was a strategic place, of course – the religious center of Palestine. There Jesus had died and risen again. From the point of view of religion it has become a whispering-gallery, where words spoken with dying lips from a cross have reverberated throughout earth. For the disciples, however, it had another meaning. It was the place where they had failed. It was the scene of their greatest breakdown. It was a place of tragic associations. It could not have been easy for them to go back to Jerusalem.

Could Simon Peter ever walk its streets without shameful memories crowing his mind? The very stones would cry out against him. At any moment around some corner he might come face to face with one of those servant maids, and have to meet her mocking smile. Besides, would not their lives be in danger? The authorities hated them and their message. There might be persecutions, prison, and death awaiting them. And it would not be easy to keep their own spirits right. Just think how the people in Jerusalem had treated their Master. What resentment and bitterness they would have to overcome. They would have to act forgivingly to people who had slain their Lord.

Would it not be better to begin in some new place where none of these old entanglements would hinder a new start? Why not Antioch, Alexandria, Athens, Rome, or some other large city where there would be less hatred towards them and fewer memories of the past? Why not some other country where Jewish influence was not so great? But No! They were sent back to Jerusalem to make their fresh beginning in the place where life and things had brought defeat. This is always what God asks of us when some fresh vision of Christ has come to us, or we have come to realize some secret of deeper victory. He bids us make witness and take our stand for Him, right in the place where we have failed.

Think of confessing failings and making a new beginning at home, among people who knew us intimately and with whom perhaps for that reason we have not always troubled to be our best. God often sends us back to the place where sorrow has thrown its dark shadow over everything, where perhaps everything we look at has the power to make the heart bleed. It is not easy to take up some burden that once was shared with a loved one.

Or we have to go back to the place where temptation has been strong and where the whole set of things has been against us, and begin again there.

It is far easier to dream of making the heathen world Christian than to make our own ordinary relationships Christian. There are problems at work, problems at home, problems in the neighborhood, everyone is irritable, falling out with one another, and we can hardly stand another day in this environment. We take a vacation to get away from it all. The days we spent in the mountains, or by the sea, gave us a breathing space in the region of the soul. We were released from pressure, from worry and fretfulness and the strain that got us down.  But now we are back to familiar surroundings again, after the holidays. We are back in it all again. Do our hearts sink at the prospect? If only we could get some permanent relief from the burden, a new start somewhere else with things a bit lighter. So we tell ourselves.

But God sends us back to the place where we have failed. For that is the place where He must have the victory in our life. It is from just that place His light can radiate.

Victory there is the strategic thing in the plan of God for our lives and for the world. It is just where life has often beaten us, and our moral problem faces us most keenly, that Jesus is seeking to come into our lives with power. It is there He is able to most directly to break into the world through us.

The greatest comfort is that He is able to send us into our old place with a new Spirit. The Disciples who went back into Jerusalem were changed men. Something had happened to them through their fellowship with the risen Christ that had made everything different. They were filled with the Holy Spirit shortly after returning to Jerusalem. They were ready now to face the place of their defeat, however humbling, for they possessed the secret of victory. They were not ashamed even to meet the people who knew them before. They could tell them of the triumphant power of Jesus Christ. They had an experience to which they could witness. They had been lifted above the fear of men and what they could do to them. They had a new attitude towards the people of Jerusalem, even to those who crucified Jesus. There was no resentment or bitterness or hate, only a great love that longed for their salvation.

The result was that it was not the old world they were going back to. For it had a new look. They had a new attitude to everything – a new point of view. They saw it now as a place of opportunity, a strategic place for winning a victory for Jesus Christ. It was the sphere of a divine purpose which God was waiting to work out through them.

The result was, revival broke out in Jerusalem and it was not long before the whole city was filled with the doctrine of Jesus Christ. And from Jerusalem it moved into the surrounding towns and villages and throughout the known world. We are still being blessed by that group of men Jesus sent back to Jerusalem to begin again.

Would it not make all the difference if we could see our world like that? Would it not bring a new zeal into monotonous living?

It can all happen to us as it happened to the disciples, if we let Jesus have his way in our lives and are ready to receive His Spirit. The place of defeat and failure can become the place of God’s opportunity if we go back to it with him. Amen.

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Life Is Hard

James 1:1-4

Life is hard. Don’t believe anyone who tells you that it isn’t. Because we live in a fallen world, nothing works the way it’s supposed to. Sin has stained every part of the physical universe. And sin has deeply infected the human bloodstream. Things break. Our bodies wear out. We grow old and die. People kill each other. Marriages break up. Children get hooked on drugs or alcohol or sex. Or all three. Babies are born with defects that cannot be corrected. Priests molest children. Pastors commit adultery. Our friends disappoint us. And we disappoint our friends.

And so it goes. As the saying goes, “Into each life some rain must fall.” I know that’s true because I just saw a girl with an umbrella on a carton of salt. We’ve come face to face with a reality that some Christians would rather not talk about. There is a false notion that the Christian life is easy. It isn’t. Whoever said that it was? Jesus did say that his yoke was easy and burden was light, but that was in comparison to the Pharisees, and anyway, an easy yoke is a yoke nonetheless. He also talked about taking up your cross daily, denying yourself, and following him. Nothing easy about that.

Don’t misunderstand me. The Christian life is the best life there is because it’s the only true life. To know Christ is to know God and to know God is to have eternal life. In Mark 10:29-30 Jesus himself let us know that anything you give up will be repaid many times over in this life, and much more in the life to come. The paradox is this: If you follow Christ, you have to lose your life in order to save it. You have to go to the cross every day in order to discover the power of the resurrection. You have to die to find abundant life. You have to reckon yourself dead to sin in order to experience the fullness of life in Christ.

None of this is easy to do. If you think it’s easy, it’s only because you haven’t taken the Bible seriously. Romans 7 speaks of a “war” going on in the inner life of the believer and Romans 8:13 commands us to “put to death” the deeds of the flesh. Galatians 5:17 tells us that the flesh and the Spirit are continually at war with each other. Christians traditionally have spoken of three great enemies they face: the world, the flesh and the devil. The world is “out there” and all around us. The “flesh” is inside and loves to answer the call of the world. And as 1 Perter 5:8 reminds us, the devil is everywhere, like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

No wonder that in Acts 14:22 the Bible says that “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” And that’s why Paul told Timothy to “share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3).

The most beloved hymn of all time (“Amazing Grace”) contains a verse that teaches this same truth:

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come.
’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

Truly, there are “many dangers, toils and snares” along the road that leads to heaven. Those difficulties are placed in our path for our spiritual benefit. This law teaches us that spiritual growth is possible and necessary but it is not instant or easy. There are no shortcuts on the road to glory. As football coaches have said for generations, “No pain, no gain.”

Personally, I prefer, “No pain, no pain”!  But the principle still stands.  And the truth is because we live in a fallen world, bad things happen to all of us. Most of the time, we have no control over much of happens to us or to those around us.  We do, however, have complete control over how we respond.  And our response to our trials largely determines our spiritual growth—or lack thereof.

Here are four principles that help us think clearly about our trials:

1) Because we live in a fallen world, bad things happen to all of us.
2) We have no control over many things that happen to us or to those around us.
3) We do have complete control over how we respond.
4) Our response to our trials largely determines our spiritual growth—or lack thereof.

And as much as we dislike it, struggle and pain in the Christian life is inevitable and it’s lifelong. But ultimately, it’s of great benefit to us. We encounter God’s grace through our trials in ways that would not happen if the trials had not come in the first place. It takes a mature Christian to understand this principle, and ironically, it is this principle that makes us mature.

Jim Warren, the longtime host of Primetime America on the Moody Broadcasting Network passed along this bit of advice: “When hard times come, be a student, not a victim.” Unfortunately, most of us would rather be victims than students.

Many people are professional victims, always talking about how unfair life is. A victim says, “Why did this happen to me?” A student says, “I don’t care why it happened. I want to learn what God is trying to teach me.” A victim looks at everyone else and cries out, “Life isn’t fair.” A student looks at life and says, “What happened to me could have happened to anybody.” A victim feels so sorry for himself that he has no time for others. A student focuses on helping others so that he has no time to feel sorry for himself. A victim begs God to remove the problems of life so that he might be happy. A student has learned through the problems of life that God alone is the source of all true happiness.

In James 1:2-4 we find practical guidelines that will help us be students and not victims when hard times come our way.

First, James gives us the Command

James 1:2 tells us to, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” James begins by reminding us that sooner or later (probably sooner) we will all face trials of various sorts. The word “face” has the idea of falling or stumbling over a problem.

Picture someone driving down the highway in a convertible. The top is down, the music is blaring, and the driver is having a blast. Not a problem in the world, not a care or a concern. Suddenly there is a bump, a jolt, and the car comes to a sudden halt. What happened? The car hit a massive pothole and suddenly the happy journey is over. Life is like that for all of us. No matter who we are or where we live, trouble is just a phone call away. A doctor may say, “I’m sorry. You’ve got cancer.” Or the voice may inform you that your daughter has just been arrested. Or you may be fired without warning. Or someone you trusted may start spreading lies about you. Or your husband or wife may decide they don’t want to be married anymore. The list is endless because as the verse makes clear, our trials are “of many kinds.”  Unlike the Baskin’s and Robbin’s ice cream, our trials come in more than 32 varieties.

How, then, should we respond to these hard times that suddenly come to us? James offers what appears to be a strange piece of advice: “Consider it pure joy” or as the King James says, “Count it all joy.” That sounds so odd that one wonders if he is serious. “Count it all joy? Are you nuts? Do you have any idea what I’ve just been through?” It does sound rather idealistic, if not downright impossible. I confess to be being bothered by this so I decided to check it out in the Greek. No help there. The word “joy” means … joy. Pretty simple.

So I decided to check out some other translations. One version says, “Be very glad” and another says, “Consider yourselves fortunate.” The translation, The New Testament in Modern English by English Bible Scholar John Bertram Phillips puts it this way, “When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends!” Even as I type these words, there is a rueful smile on my face. I think it’s the exclamation point at the end that does it for me. It’s not just “welcome them as friends,” which would be hard enough, but “welcome them as friends!” which to me sounds positively giddy, like I’m welcoming long-lost friends to my home.

As I thought about it more, and considered my own difficulties, the thought occurs that “counting it all joy” when troubles come is not a natural response. If we want a natural response, we can talk about anger or despair or complaining or getting even or running away. It isn’t “natural” to find joy in hardship. But that’s the whole point. James isn’t talking about a “natural earthly” reaction. He’s talking about a “supernatural spiritual” reaction made possible only by the power of the Holy Spirit who enables us to see and to respond from God’s point of view. I’ve come to the conclusion then that “counting it all joy” is a conscious choice we make when hard times come. It’s a choice we’ll have to make again and again and again and again as we face trials of many kinds. And to do it we’ll have to take the long view of life, to understand that what we see is not the final chapter of the story. If we can make the choice to view life that way, then we can make the following statements about our struggles and our trials:

First that they’re sent from the Lord, and Second that they’re necessary for our spiritual growth.

The first statement that they’re sent from the Lord reflects a high view of God’s sovereignty. In Isaiah 45:7 God reminds us,  I am the One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these things. Everything that happens to us is either caused by God or sent by God. If I truly believe that, then I can move to the second statement, that they’re necessary for my spiritual growth and begin to look for ways to grow spiritually.

Here’s a practical hint. Don’t trust your feelings! When those you love are in great pain or when you face senseless tragedy or when friends turn against you or when life tumbles in around you, your feelings won’t be an accurate guide. You won’t normally “feel” joyful or grateful or full of trust. You are quite likely to be filled with a plethora  of negative emotions. So don’t judge your circumstances by your feelings. Judge your circumstances by the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God. When you do that, a powerful conclusion emerges: These great trials give me great hope that God means a great benefit to come to me by them. Seeing things God’s way doesn’t cancel your trials and it doesn’t turn them into non-trials, but it does transform your evaluation of those trials. You will view them differently because you believe that God intends through them to give you a great benefit that could not come any other way.

This week I read about a pastor in Florida who occasionally throws “Count it all joy” parties. He prepares a nice invitation, sends it out to lots of people, and then waits for the response. “Why are you having this party? Is it your birthday? Your anniversary? Did you get a raise?” they ask him. “No, I’m having this party because I’m going through a hard time right now and I want to celebrate because I know God has something good planned for me in the end.” The thought occurred to me that this is a far better idea than the “Pity Parties” many of us like to throw. Perhaps a group of people going through hard times should come together to throw a “Count it all joy” party so they can commiserate and celebrate together. That approaches the spirit of our text.

We can experience joy through our trials because God is in control. Our main problem is that we misunderstand the word “joy.” To most people the word is a synonym for happiness. Joy to many people speaks of a pep rally or a champagne party or a New Year’s Eve bash. To us, joy means the absence of all pain. But that’s not at all what the Bible means. Here’s a working definition: Joy is deep satisfaction that comes from knowing that God is in control even when my circumstances seem to be out of control. The key to joy is knowing that God is in control. If you know that, you can be satisfied at a very deep level even while you weep over what is happening around you and to you.

During a Bible study this week, a friend pointed me to the story of the death of David’s son in 2 Samuel 12. You probably remember the details. David seduced Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, and had her husband Uriah the Hittite murdered. Then he married her and they conceived a child together. But the Lord was displeased with David’s sin so he sent Nathan the prophet to tell David that the child would die. When the child was born, the Lord struck him with a serious illness (2 Samuel 12:15). In response, David fasted and prayed and cried out to God to spare the baby. He lay on the ground weeping for seven days. His servants begged him to eat but he refused. When the child died on the seventh day, the servants were afraid to tell David because they feared that he might harm himself, so great was his anguish. But David overheard their whispers and asked, “Is the child dead?” When they replied that he was dead, David rose, washed and anointed himself, put on fresh clothes, and went to the temple to worship. Later he returned to his house and began to eat a meal. His puzzled servants couldn’t figure out why he fasted and wept when the child was alive, but when he died, he got up, went to the temple, and ate a meal. David’s response is classic. He told them that he had fasted and prayed while the child was alive, thinking that God might yet spare him. But once the child died, fasting would make no difference. David said, “Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). The last phrase, by the way, gives us an early glimmer in the Old Testament of the hope of being reunited with our loved ones after death.

You can search through 2 Samuel 12 and you won’t find the word “joy” anywhere. Yet I believe this passage offers us a sad and true-to-life example of what it means to “count it all joy” even in the midst of a terrible personal loss. There is no laughter here, only pain and sorrow and weeping over one man’s foolish choices that led to the death of a son. But David’s response teaches us that down deep, far deeper than his sin, he understood God. He wept and prayed and fasted while that was appropriate. When the time had passed, he rose, washed, worshiped, and ate a meal. He understood that even through his tears, life must go on. He could not and should not fast and pray and weep forever. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says that there is a time to weep and there is a time to refrain from weeping.

The great 19th-century preacher Alexander MacLaren points out that excessive grief can be selfish. There are many of us who make some disappointment, some loss, some grief, the excuse for shirking plain duty. There is nothing more selfish than sorrow, and there is nothing more absorbing unless we guard against its tendency to monopolize our lives. Working for God and working for others is our best comforter next to the promise of God’s Holy Spirit. There is nothing that so lightens the weight of a lifelong sorrow as to make it the stimulus to a lifelong devotion; and if our patience has its perfect work, it will not make us sit with folded hands, weeping for the days that are no more, but it will drive us into heroic and energetic service, in the midst of which there will come some shadow of consolation.

And so I ask this practical question. How can we go on when sorrow has paid us a visit? What shall we do when tragedy strikes and we feel like giving up? Here are five suggestions:

First, Remind yourself of the promises of God.

That simply means, dwell much in the Word of God. Talk to yourself and forcibly call to mind the promises of God’s presence, his comfort, his divine care, and his unerring purpose to mold you into the likeness of his Son. In the darkest hours, the promises will not come easily. You must do whatever it takes to feed your own soul with the Bread of Life.

Second, Give thanks for what you can give thanks for.

There are times when thanksgiving seems almost impossible and sometimes even impious. Sin in all its ugliness sometimes comes as an unwanted guest. Should we give thanks for sin? No, never. But even if you cannot give thanks for 99% of what is happening, focus on the 1% you clearly see and give thanks to God for that.

Third, Refuse to give in to bitterness and despair.

Here I speak of the conscious choices of the heart. Too many times we speak as if we were involuntarily overwhelmed and had no choice but to be bitter, angry, and hostile. Or we had no choice but to give up our faith in God. Better we should say, “I could give in to anger but by God’s grace I will choose a higher road. I could turn away from my Lord but I will not do it.”

Fourth, Choose to believe in God.

That means exactly what it says. Believe in God! Believe in his goodness. Believe in his love. Believe in his kindness. Faith is a choice made by the heart. If you want to believe, you will believe, and the angels of heaven will come to your aid.

Fifth, Make up your mind to go on with life.

This is what David did. This is what we must do. Grief is good and proper and is healing and even ennobling, but after grief has done its work of healing and helping, then we must move on. The past is gone and we can’t go back. Don’t try. You can’t live in yesterday. And you can’t even live in today. The voice of God calls us onward toward tomorrow.

This can be the Christian’s mantra, I can’t go back. I can’t stay here. I must go forward.

Even if we want to go back, we can’t. And we can’t stay where we are. God’s call is always onward, forward, upward, moving out by faith into the unknown future. This is not easy but it must be done. And when we do it, we will discover a well of joy springing up to refresh our souls as we march onward with the Lord.

Second, James gives us the Reason

“Because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance” (James 1:3). Every word of this verse is crucial. The phrase “you know” refers not to head knowledge (what we sometimes call “book learning”) but to heart knowledge, the kind gained by years of experience. Some things we learn from books, others we learn in the School of Hard Knocks. This lesson comes from daily life. God wants to put our faith to the test. The word “testing” refers to the process by which gold ore was purified. In order to separate the gold from the dross, the ore was placed in a furnace and heated until it melted. The dross rose to the surface and was skimmed off, leaving only pure gold. That’s a picture of what God is up to in our “fiery trials.” We all have to undergo some “furnace time” sooner or later. And some of us will spend an extended time in the furnace of affliction. But the result is the pure gold of Christlike character. Job spoke of this experience when he declared of the Lord, “He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

What is God trying to do when he allows his children to go through hard trials and deep suffering? There are several answers to that question.

First, God wants to purge us of sin and to purify us of iniquity.

Second, God uses suffering to test our faith. Will you still obey God in the darkness? Will you serve God when things aren’t going your way? Will you hold on to the truth when you feel like giving up?

Third, God uses times of difficulty to humble us. When things are going well, we tend to get puffed up about our accomplishments. But let the darkness fall and we are on our knees crying out to God.

Fourth, God definitely uses hard times to prepare us to minister to others. He comforts us so that we may comfort others. I know many Christians whose greatest ministry has come from sharing with others how God helped them through a time of crisis.

Fifth, I believe God uses hard times to prepare us for a new understanding of his character. In the furnace we discover God’s goodness in a way we had never experienced it before.

Until your faith is put to the test, it remains theoretical. You never know what you believe until hard times come. Then you find out, for better or for worse. When the phone rings with bad news, when your son winds up in prison, when your best friend betrays you, when you lose your job, when your parents suddenly die, when life comes apart at the seams, then you discover what you truly and actually believe in the depth of your soul. Until then, your faith is speculative because it is untested. You can talk about heaven all you want, but you’ll discover whether or not you believe in it when you stand by the casket of someone you love.

God’s great design is to produce in us“perseverance.” The Greek word is hupomone, sometimes translated as “endurance” or “steadfastness” or “patience.” In the book of Revelation, this word describes the faith of those brave saints who would not take the Mark of the Beast. Thus it describes a certain kind of “battle-tested” faith that stands up under withering fire from the enemy and does not cut and run. William Barclay notes that in the early church the martyrs gained the respect of unbelievers because in the moment of death, they had this quality. To the very end, they died with their faith intact. Of them it was said, “They died singing.”

Third, James gives us The Promise

“Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:4). There is a process involved in our trials that leads to a product. Perseverance requires work and faith and hope and dogged determination to hold on to our faith even when the world seems to be disintegrating around us.

Perseverance says, “I will not give up no matter what happens or how bad life may be. I will hold on because I promised and because I believe the Lord has something good in store for me.” The reward of such gritty stubbornness is genuine spiritual maturity. When trials have finished their work in us, we will not lack anything the Lord wants us to have. If we need faith, we will have it. If we need hope, we will have it. If we need love, we will have it. If we need any of the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), it will be produced in us. Nothing will be left out; nothing will be left behind; noting will be found wanting!

Let me finish up with a few concluding thoughts. When trials come (and they will come to all of us eventually), there is something we can’t know and something we can know:

First, We can’t always know why things happen the way they do.

No matter how hard we try to figure things out, there will always be many mysteries in life. The greater the tragedy, the greater will be the mystery. God does not explain himself to us. As we go through life, we can look back and see many blanks that we wish God would fill in for us. Most of the time we will carry those unfilled blanks with us all the way to heaven.

Second, When hard times come, we can know that God is at work in our trials for our benefit and for his glory. To say that is to say nothing more than the words of Romans 8:28. For the children of God, “all things” do indeed work together for good. Sometimes we will see it; often we will simply have to take it by faith. But it is true whether we believe it or not.

Third, through it all, Be of Good Cheer!

When English evangelist Charles Simeon finished his exposition of this passage found in the Book of James, he addressed himself to two groups of people. First, there are the timid, those who fear the trials of life. Our message is, Be of good cheer. Fear not. Nothing can touch you that does not first pass through the hands of your Heavenly Father. Though the arrow be shot by the evil one, it cannot touch you unless God should will it so. And your Father who loves you will never give you more than you can bear. Though you may feel that you are far past the limit, you aren’t. God measures his trials along with his blessings. If he afflicts you, it is not to destroy you but to develop in you the gold of Christlike character.

And what shall we say to those who are suffering right now? Should we pity you? No! We should rather congratulate you that God has counted you worthy of such great trials. Nothing is wasted—not your pain, your tears, your confusion or even your doubts. All of it is grist for the mill of God’s loving purpose. “Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face.” Receive with joy what God has given you, and bless his name.

Two Simple Words

In order to make this as simple as possible, I’d like to boil today;’s message down to just two words. When hard times come, when trials fall upon us, or we seem to fall upon them, when the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune knock us to the ground, what should we do? Remember these two words.

Pray and stay. Repeat that out loud. PRAY and STAY.

Don’t run. Don’t hide. Don’t shake your fist at God. Don’t start arguing with the Almighty. And don’t waste time trying to make excuses or empty promises. And don’t try to bargain your way out of trouble. It doesn’t work, and you don’t have anything to bargain with anyway.

Pray and stay. Pray and stay. Pray and stay.

Pray: Seek God’s face. Spend time with the Lord. Listen for his voice. Ask God, “What are you trying to teach me? Speak, Lord, and I will listen to your voice.”

Stay: Wait. Be patient. Don’t rush God. (You can’t rush him!) Refuse to run away. Affirm by faith that God is at work even though he seems invisible and your life seems chaotic.

The Christian way is not an easy way and any representations to the contrary are false. There is an abundant life to be had, and there is spiritual victory, and there is joy in the Lord and the filling of the Spirit, but those things don’t come in spite of our trials. Most often they come through and with and alongside our trials. In various ways we will all struggle every day as we make our earthly pilgrimage. In a fallen world, there can be no other way. And for the most part, we can’t choose our trials nor can we avoid most of them. But we can choose how we respond. That part is up to us.

Here are some things that in the midst of trials we can choose

Joy or bitterness.

Forgiveness or anger.

Trust or unbelief.

Faith or fear.

Love or hatred.

Kindness or malice.

Temperance or self-indulgence.

Gentleness or stubbornness.

Mercy or revenge.

Peace or worry.

Hope or despair.

Our perspective makes all the difference. Our trials are not sent to make us fall. They are sent to cause us to fly like eagles as we soar by grace. They are not meant to defeat us but to be the means to a greater spiritual victory. They are not intended to make us weaker but to make us stronger. They are not sent to hurt us but to help us. Therefore, we should not complain when hard times come. We should rejoice. And we will rejoice if we believe what God has said. Every hard trial is another step on the stairway that leads from earth to heaven. Amen.

Let us pray.

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