Many Christians right now are dealing with the biggest obstacles of their lives. In my own congregation, people are facing what seem like impassable mountains. They're dealing with job loss, bills piling up, future needs fast approaching. Marriages are under stress, loved ones are sick, children are struggling with faith.
“This cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause” (John 15:25, my italics).
Jesus said he came to seek out and save the lost. This was the same man who had power to subdue the very winds and waves. At any time Christ could have sent fire down from heaven to destroy the wicked. Yet instead Jesus came as a humble servant.
Here at Times Square Church, we sing a hand-clapping song that goes this way:
Send him on down, Lord, send him on down. Lord, let the Holy Ghost come on down. We need him, Lord, send him on down.
We sing other, similar songs, pleading with the Holy Ghost to come down.
But the truth is, the Holy Spirit is already here. He came down from heaven at the Upper Room at Pentecost. And he never left!
In Matthew 14, we find Jesus getting into a boat to leave for “a desert place apart” where he could be alone. He had just received word that John the Baptist had been beheaded and buried. And now he was so moved by this news that he felt the need to be by himself and pray.
Any discussion on suffering and trials must begin with the most troubled, distressed, despairing believer of all time. The man I’m talking about was a righteous, faithful, God-loving servant, devoted to prayer and worship. Yet, when sorrow and trouble overwhelmed his life, this same man began to sound like an atheist.
At the very height of his suffering, this servant concluded the following: “If I had called, and he [God] had answered me; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice. For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.”
"The word of the Lord came unto Jonah...saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord" (Jonah 1:1-3). We know Jonah's story. He's the man who tried to run away from God. The Lord gave Jonah a mandate to preach judgment to the city-nation Nineveh. But instead of warning Nineveh, Jonah fled.
If you claim not to have any enemies, I'd like to make you an offer. I want to sign you up to write a book explaining how you managed to get this far in life without having a single person oppose you. Your book would surely be a bestseller.
You could describe how nobody has ever been jealous, envious or hostile toward you. You could explain how no one has ever tried to interrupt your plans, wreck your goals or derail your future. You could tell how no one has ever injured you, kept you from a desire, or orchestrated a destructive offense against you.
Who do you name as your closest friends? Believe it or not, this question is a matter of great concern to the Lord. And that's because your friendships speak loudly — both to God and to the world — about the condition of your heart.
"He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me" (Psalms 18:16-19).
The Psalmist writes, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes" (Psalm 119:71). You may wonder, as I have — what kind of theology is this? Is it actually good for me to be afflicted?
