Thursday
Evening Bible Study
August
13, 2015
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it address the person who is: Empty, lonely, guilty, or afraid
to die? Does it speak to the broken
hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Is the church loved? Target 3300 words
Video = 75 wpm
Job went through the worst time anyone could imagine.
He’s lost all his possessions.
His children have died.
His health has failed.
Through the book we’ve watched Job and his friends wrestle with the
question “why”.
They both thought that difficult times only come because we’ve done
something bad to deserve them.
Yet we’ve found that the answer isn’t that simple.
Tonight I want to talk about why we go through trials, and how we survive
our trials.
Why trials?
Why do people go through trials? I’m
sure there are more reasons, but here are six to consider.
1. Correction
Even though Job was not going through his difficulty because of some “sin”,
there may be times when that’s exactly what’s happening to us.
Sometimes we’re doing things we shouldn’t or looking where we don’t need to
be looking, and it causes trouble.
Maybe he shouldn’t have been checking out her awesome “head band”.
There are times when indeed God is trying to correct the bad behavior of
one of His kids.
(Hebrews 12:5–8
NLT) —5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as
his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up
when he corrects you.
We’ve mentioned this before, but the writer of Hebrews is quoting Job’s friend
Eliphaz here (Job 5:17)
(Job 5:17 NKJV) “Behold, happy is
the man whom God corrects; Therefore
do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he
punishes each one he accepts as his child.” 7 As you endure this divine
discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever
heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God
doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are
illegitimate and are not really his children at all.
If you robbed a bank and are sitting in prison, you shouldn’t be asking
yourself, “Why do I have such a hard life being sent to prison?”
It’s obvious you have done something to deserve it.
But if there is no obvious offense that is linked to your difficulty, be
careful of assuming that you’ve done something.
2. God is proud
This was the case with Job.
God allowed Satan to cause trouble to Job to show Satan and the universe
how a godly man will continue to trust God.
(Job 1:8 NLT) Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my
servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of
complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
And though Job complained a lot, he did continue to trust God. Job said,
(Job 13:15a NKJV) Though He
slay me, yet will I trust Him.
Illustration
As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle
bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded
a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of
the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, “Are you trying to
see if we can break this bridge?”
“No,” the builder replied, “I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t
break.”
Could it be that God is bragging on you?
Could it be that He thinks you’re up to the test?
3. Protection
Or, to keep us from trouble.
We saw this from the book of Job (36:19), and the principle is very similar
to “correction” and “refining”.
Sometimes God uses difficulty in our lives to steer us away from things
that would bring us into sin.
We see an example is Paul and his thorn in the flesh
(2 Corinthians 12:7
NKJV) And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
Paul could see later that his “thorn” was keeping him from the sin of
pride, which he might have fallen into because of the great revelations he had
been having about God.
A couple of weeks ago I was coming home from getting my haircut.
As I was driving out the 91 freeway, I heard a noise and looked in my
rearview mirror and saw four or five cars swerving and crashing into each other
on the freeway about 200 yards behind me.
Sometimes I complain about how long it I get delayed at certain
stoplights. But on that day, if the
stoplights had been nicer to me, I would have been in that huge accident.
Sometimes the difficulties or “delays” are for our protection, to keep us
from trouble.
4. Refining Faith
Peter wrote,
(1 Peter 1:6–7 NKJV)
—6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need
be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being
much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be
found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
The word “tested” speaks of refining.
God refines our faith like a goldsmith refines gold. It’s my understanding that a goldsmith will
heat the gold ore until it’s in a molten state.
As he keeps the heat on, the impurities all come to the surface. The goldsmith will keep skimming off the
impurities until the gold is pure. He
knows it’s pure when He can see His own reflection in the gold.
Illustration
Charles Spurgeon said: I bear willing witness that I owe more to the fire,
and the hammer, and the file, than to anything else in my Lord's workshop. I sometimes question whether I have ever
learned anything except through the rod.
When my schoolroom is darkened, I see most.
We’ve defined “faith” as “trusting in someone you can’t see”.
God will “darken the room” in a trial to give us a chance to grow in our
faith, to trust Him when we don’t see what’s going on.
Paul wrote,
(1 Corinthians
10:13 NKJV) No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man;
but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that
you may be able to bear it.
The word translated “temptation” can also be translated “trial” or “test”.
Paul says that in our trials, God is faithful.
He can be trusted. He will provide a
way to get through the trial.
So we need to learn to trust Him.
Illustration
A young man had worked for years to establish himself as a peach grower and
had invested his all in a small peach orchard which bloomed bounteously. Then
came the frost. He didn’t go to church the next Sunday, nor the next, nor the
next. His pastor gave him a call to find out why he wasn’t in church. The
discouraged young fellow exclaimed: “No, and what is more, I’m not coming any
more. Do you think I can worship a God who loves me so little that he will let
a frost kill all my peaches?”
The old pastor looked at him a moment in silence, and then replied kindly:
“Young man, God loves you better than he does your peaches. He knows that while
peaches do better without frosts, it is impossible to grow the best men without
frosts. His object is to grow the best men, not peaches.”
5. To Show Jesus
In the story of Gideon, God used a strange military strategy to defeat the
Midianites with Gideon’s little band of 300 men.
Each man had a clay pot with a torch inside, along with a ram’s horn
trumpets. Gideon’s men surrounded the
Midianites at night, and at the signal they were to break the clay pots and
blow the trumpets.
When they broke the clay pots, the light could shine.
You couldn’t see the light until the clay pots were broken.
Paul described a parallel picture of broken clay pots:
(2 Corinthians
4:7–11 NKJV) —7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence
of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are
perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—10 always
carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that
the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Sometimes people can’t see Jesus in our lives very clearly until our clay
pots are broken.
Illustration
Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote,
When the green leaves decorate the trees and the season is fair, one cannot
readily find the birds’ nests, but when the winter strips the trees, anyone
with half an eye may see them. In the same way the Christian may scarcely be
discerned amid the press of business and prosperity; his hidden life is
concealed amid the thick and throng of the things of earth. But let affliction
come, a general sickness, or severe losses in the family, and you shall see the
Christian man plainly enough in the gracious patience by which he rises
superior to trial. The sick bed reveals the man; the burning house, the sinking
ship, the panic on the exchange—all these make manifest the hidden ones. In
many a true believer, true piety is like a drum which nobody hears of unless it
be beaten.
6. I don’t know
This is the hardest answer.
God does have purposes for our lives – but He doesn’t always tell us what
it’s all about.
As Job went through his difficulty, he didn’t know why.
Illustration
Washing Hamsters
A young boy, about eight years old, was at the corner “Mom & Pop”
grocery picking out a pretty good size box of laundry detergent. The grocer
walked over, and, trying to be friendly, asked the boy if he had a lot of
laundry to do. “Oh, no laundry,” the boy
said, “I’m going to wash my hamsters.” “But you shouldn’t use this to wash
hamsters. It’s very powerful and if you wash your hamsters in this, they’ll get
sick. In fact, it might even kill them.”
But the boy was not to be stopped and carried the detergent to the
counter and paid for it, even as the grocer still tried to talk him out of
washing the hamsters. About a week later
the boy was back in the store to buy some candy. The grocer asked the boy how
his hamsters were doing. “Oh, they died,” the boy said. The grocer, trying not to be an
“I-told-you-so”, said he was sorry the hamsters died but added, “I tried to
tell you not to use that detergent on your hamsters.” “Well, the boy replied, “I don’t think it was
the detergent that killed them.” “Oh?
What was it then?” “Well, after I
washed them, I had to dry them and I guess the dryer can get a little hot, not
to mention the hurdles they had to do. But I must say they did come out without
that static cling!!”
Frankly, sometimes we can identify with those hamsters. We’ve been through one heck of a wash cycle
and feel like we’re about to die on those hurdles in the dryer.
We have to trust in God’s love, power, wisdom. We have to learn that He’s not some silly boy
washing his hamsters.
We can trust that He loves us.
(1 John 3:16a NKJV)
By
this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.
Job didn’t get answers. He got more
of God. At the end of his difficult time, he said,
(Job 42:5 NKJV) “I have
heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
Illustration
A generation of Christians reared among push buttons and automatic machines
is impatient of slower and less direct methods of reaching their goals. We have been trying to apply machine-age
methods to our relations with God. We
read our chapter, have our short devotions, and rush away, hoping to make up
for our deep inward bankruptcy by attending another gospel meeting or listening
to another thrilling story told by a religious adventurer lately returned from
afar. The tragic results of this spirit
are all about us. Shallow lives, hollow
religious philosophies, the preponderance of the element of fun in gospel
meetings, the glorification of men, trust in religious externalities,
quasi-religious fellowships, salesmanship methods, the mistaking of dynamic
personality for the power of the Spirit; these and such as these are the
symptoms of an evil disease, a deep and serious malady of the soul.
... A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
[1948]
God isn’t beating you up. He may be taking
you deeper.
Surviving trials
Illustration
A family from Long Island decided to move west. They bought a ranch via the
internet in Wyoming
and packed up 3 moving vans and headed for the sunset. Several months later,
friends from New York
came for a visit. When they knocked on the front door of the ranch house, the
father answered. After a hearty exchange of welcomes, the visitors asked him
what the ranch had been named. “Well,” said the would-be cattleman, “I wanted
to name the ranch the Bar-J. However, my wife absolutely insisted on the
Susie-Q. My son liked the Flying-W, while my daughter voted for the Lazy-J.”
“So what did you finally decide to name the ranch?” the visitor asked. “We
decided to name it the Bar-J Susie-Q Flying-W Lazy-J Ranch,” came the reply.
The visitor looked around. “So where are all the cattle?” he asked. “Oh, them,”
the rancher said, shaking his head, “None of them survived the branding.”
How can we survive difficult times?
1. Change
If there is some kind of correction involved, then learn your lesson, turn
around, and follow Him.
(Hebrews 12:11 NKJV)
Now
no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless,
afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been
trained by it.
There is a peace that comes from being “trained”, from turning around.
Illustration
According to a radio report, a Junior High School in Oregon was faced with a unique problem. A
number of girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the
bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press
their lips to the mirrors leaving dozens of little lip prints. Finally the
principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to
the bathroom and met them there with the custodian. She explained that all
these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to
clean the mirrors every day. To demonstrate how difficult it was to clean the
mirrors, she asked the custodian to clean one of the mirrors. He proceeded to
take out a long-handled brush, dip it into the nearest toilet and scrub the
mirror. Since then there have been no lip prints on the mirror.
Change your actions.
2. Look to Jesus
(Hebrews 12:1–2
NKJV) —1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God.
He knows what it is to go through difficulty
He knew He was going to face scourging and crucifixion, and yet He went
ahead and faced his trouble because of us.
One evening Jesus sent His disciples on a boat across the Sea of Galilee
when a sudden storm appeared.
While the disciples fought against the storm, Jesus showed up, walking on
the water. Jesus even asked Peter to
come and walk with Him on the water.
Peter walked a few steps on the water …
(Matthew 14:30 NKJV)
But
when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning
to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
It’s when you take your eyes off of Jesus in the storm that you begin to
sink.
You may think that no one has suffered like you.
But there is one person who has suffered more than all others, even more
than Job.
Jesus suffered on the cross, taking the weight of all the world’s sins as
He died in our place.
He knows what you’re going through and if He has allowed for you to go
through a difficult time, He knows exactly what He’s doing.
3. Pray
(James 5:13 NKJV) Is anyone
among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
When Paul had his thorn in the flesh, he handled it by praying.
(2 Corinthians
12:7–10 NKJV) —7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the
revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.
The “messenger of Satan” reminds me of Job since Satan was behind Job’s
great difficulties.
8 Concerning
this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said
to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in
weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that
the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs,
in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I
am strong.
You may see the end of your trial in response to trial.
Paul’s trial continued, but he found his answer in God’s grace.
He found that the weaker he became, the stronger Jesus could be inside of
him. And that’s what Paul wanted, more
of Jesus.
4. Trust
Sometimes we feel like those hamsters going through the washer and
dryer. Can we trust our “keeper”?
Of course we can. He’s not a little
boy.
If God is stretching your faith, then respond with faith. Respond by trusting Him.
(1 Peter 4:19 NKJV)
Therefore
let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him
in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.
commit– paratithemi – to
place beside; to deposit; to entrust, commit to one’s charge
God wants us to learn to trust Him with our lives, knowing that He knows
what He’s doing.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego were
three young Jewish men who would not bow to Nebuchadnezzar’s statue, even
though Nebuchadnezzar threatened to thrown them into the fire for refusing to
obey.
(Daniel 3:17–18
NKJV) —17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to
deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from
your hand, O king. 18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve
your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”
They had faith that God would take care of them, either by taking them home
in death, or by protecting them in the fire.
Nebuchadnezzar followed through with his threat and threw them into the
fiery furnace. Yet they found that they
weren’t alone in the fire.
(Daniel 3:24–25
NKJV) —24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and
spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the
midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” 25 “Look!” he
answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are
not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”
I think that when you and I go through tough times, Jesus is right there
with us.
Jesus doesn’t just start you out with the last trust fall. He takes it a step at a time. But there are going to be times He will
stretch your faith.
Illustration
“Footprints”
One night a man had a dream. He
dreamed he was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed
scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the
sand; one belonged to him, and the other to the LORD.
When the last scene of his life
flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed
that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of
footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest
times in his life.
This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it. “LORD, You said that once I decided to follow
You, You’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t
understand why when I needed You most You would leave me.”
The LORD replied, “My precious,
precious child, I love you and I would never leave you. During your times of
trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that
I carried you.”
You can trust Him. Let Him carry you.
5. Rejoice
Instead of complaining
Job didn’t understand what was going on, and he complained a lot about it.
Complaining can get us into lots of trouble.
Illustration
Ole Nellie
Farmer Joe decided his injuries from the accident were serious enough to
take the trucking company responsible for the accident to court. In court the
trucking company’s fancy lawyer was questioning farmer Joe. Didn’t you say, at
the scene of the accident, “I’m fine,” said the lawyer. Farmer Joe responded,
“Well I’ll tell you what happened. I had just loaded my favorite mule Nellie
into the.......” “I didn’t ask for any details,” the lawyer interrupted, “just
answer the question.” “Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, ‘I’m fine!’”
Farmer Joe said, “Well I had just got Nellie into the trailer and I was driving
down the road...” The lawyer interrupted again and said, “Judge, I am trying to
establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the
Highway Patrolman on the scene that he was just fine. Now several weeks after
the accident he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please
tell him to simply answer the question.” By this time the Judge was frustrated
at the lawyer and said to the lawyer, “I’d like to hear what he has to say
about his favorite mule Nellie.” Joe thanked the Judge and proceeded, “Well as
I was saying, I had just loaded Nellie, my favorite mule, into the trailer and
was driving her down the highway when this huge semi-truck and trailer ran the
stop sign and smacked my truck right in the side. I was thrown into one ditch
and Nellie was thrown into the other. I was hurting real bad and didn’t want to
move. However, I could hear ole Nellie moaning and groaning. I knew she was in
terrible shape just by her groans. Shortly after the accident a Highway
Patrolman came on the scene. He could hear Nellie moaning and groaning so he
went over to her. After he looked at her then he took out his gun and shot her
between the eyes. Then the Patrolman came across the road with his gun in his
hand and looked at me. He said, “Your mule was in such bad shape I had to shoot
her. How are you feeling?”
Instead of moaning and groaning like Nellie, there’s another way to respond
to our trials.
Peter told us to rejoice because our trials are
refining our faith. (1Pet. 1:6-7)
(1 Peter 1:6–7 NKJV) —6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if
need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more
precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to
praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
James tells us,
(James 1:2–4 NKJV) —2 My brethren, count it all joy when
you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let
patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing.
Our trials produces “patience” in us and that’s
what makes us mature as believers.
Illustration
This Is Good!
There is a story about a king in Africa
and his close friend that he grew up with. The friend had a habit of looking at
every situation that ever occurred in his life (positive or negative) and
remarking, “This is good!” One day the king and his friend were out on a
hunting expedition. The friend would load and prepare the guns for the king.
The friend had apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns,
for after taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was
blown off. Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, “This is
good!” To which the king replied, “No, this is NOT good!” and proceeded to send
his friend to jail. About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he
should have known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took them to
their village. They tied his hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound
him to the stake. As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that
the king was missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that
was less than whole. So untying the king, they sent him on his way. As he
returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his thumb and felt
remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went immediately to the jail to
speak with his friend. “You were right” he said, “it was good that my thumb was
blown off.” And he proceeded to tell the friend all that had just happened.
“And so I am very sorry for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me
to do this.” “No,” his friend replied, “this is good!” “What do you mean, ‘this
is good’! How could it be good that I sent my friend to jail for a year?” “If I
had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you.”
We may not always see what the good is with our trial, but if we are trusting
God, we can still rejoice because it is indeed good.
Helping Others
One of the best ways that you can
help others in their trials is to find help in your own trials.
(2 Corinthians 1:3–4 NKJV) —3 Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of
all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all
our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble,
with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Paul is teaching the Corinthians
that when they go through trials and receive comfort, they are able to turn
around and help others who are going through the same things.
Trials should teach us to have
compassion on others.
Illustration
Charles Spurgeon told a story about
Charles Pratt, when he was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. “Being on a visit
to Lord Dacre, he walked out with a gentleman—a very absent-minded man—to a
hill, on the top of which the stocks of the village stood. The Chief Justice
sat down, and wanting to feel what the punishment was, he asked his companion
to open them and put him in. This being done, his friend took a book from his
pocket, sauntered on and completely forgot the judge. In the meantime, the
Chief Justice tried in vain to release himself. Seeing a countryman, he tried
to convince him to let him out, but the man wouldn’t help. ‘No, no, old gentleman,’ said the man, ‘You
were not set there for nothing,’ and left him until he was released by a
servant dispatched from the house.
“Later he presided at a trial in
which a magistrate was charged for false imprisonment, putting someone in the
stocks. The counsel for the magistrate made light of the whole charge and
especially of sitting in the stocks, which he said everybody knew was no real
punishment.
“The Chief Justice rose and,
leaning over the bench, said in a half-whisper, ‘Brother, have you ever been in the stocks?’
“’Really, my lord, never!’
“’Well, I have,’ said the judge,
‘and I assure you, it is no such trifle as you represent.’”
We look at life much different
after we’ve been through some tough situations ourselves.
Helping others is one of the best
ways we can end up helping ourselves.
Illustration
Years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger of
the Menninger Clinic was asked, “If someone felt a nervous breakdown coming on,
what would you suggest that he do?” “If you feel a nervous breakdown coming on,
I would urge you to find somebody else with a problem—a serious one—and get
involved with that individual, helping him solve his problem.” In helping him
to solve his problem, then in reality your own problem is going to disappear.
You’re no longer thinking internally. You’re no longer letting things gnaw at
your stomach. You’re no longer getting disturbed about yourself because you’re
not thinking about yourself. You’re thinking about others.