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Archive for the ‘Sermons’ Category

God purposes gladness through suffering

Posted in commentary, Scripture, Sermons on December 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I came across this quote on the purposes of Christ’s suffering in A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life:

Ambrose also warned that faith in Christ is more than just an emotional response to the history of His sufferings. Natural human compassion can be stirred by the story of anyone suffering, but this is not faith in Christ. Faith looks to the “meaning, intent, and design of Christ in his sufferings,” Ambrose said, namely to “redeem us from the slavery of death and hell,” and “to free us from sin…destroy it, kill it, crucify it.” (Emphasis in bold is mine)

Beeke, Joel R.; Jones, Mark (2012-10-14). A Puritan Theology: Doctrine for Life (Kindle Locations 14133-14136). Kindle Edition.

And that reminded me of Pastor John’s sermon, Why Was This Child Born Blind:

They say in verse 2 (of John 9), “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” In other words, what is the cause of this blindness? The man’s sin? Or the parents’ sin? Is this blindness a punishment for the parents’ sin or a punishment for his own sin—some kind of inherited sinfulness already in the womb?

Jesus says, in effect, specific sins in the past don’t always correlate with specific suffering in the present. The decisive explanation for this blindness is not found by looking for its cause but by looking for its purpose. Verse 3: Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (Emphasis in bold is mine)

Jesus fulfilled his purpose through his suffering.  God has purpose in disability.  And the end result isn’t just relief, it is gladness!

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. (1 Peter 4:13 ESV)

 

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“This is not a plaything for me. We’re talking about death!” John Piper

Posted in Sermons on October 16, 2012| 1 Comment »

Pastor John laid out why God is the center of our joy so clearly – including for those experiencing intense suffering – that I hope you will watch or listen to the entire sermon.

If you can’t watch it all, watch about 90 seconds from 3:05 to 4:35 to hear Pastor John talk about death and Christian hedonism. Yes, being satisfied in Christ is important at the moments of greatest pain.

And if you have only 2 and 1/2 more minutes, go to 43:20 of the sermon where he looks specifically at disability and weakness.

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Pastors, help us to see that all means all

Posted in Quotes, Sermons on August 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

I very nearly stood up and cheered when Pastor John said this more than two years ago.  But I think I was crying too hard, with joy:

So my aim in this message is modest and, I think, explosive, if the church really took hold of it and lived it.

The message is that God knits all the children together in their mothers’ wombs, and they are all—all of them of every degree of ability—conceived for the purpose of displaying the glory of God.

John Piper, Born Blind for the Glory of God, preached on January 24, 2010.

That sermon can also be found in this free ebook, Disability and the Sovereign Goodness of God, along with other sermons and some interviews Pastor John and I did last year.

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Help me, Lord, ‘for your name’s sake.’

Posted in commentary, Scripture, Sermons on July 26, 2012| 6 Comments »

The little phrase ‘for your name’s sake’ showed up in my Bible reading recently and I was so comforted by it that I went looking for other places where that phrase is used.  Here are three:

For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me. . . (Psalm 31:3 ESV)

“Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O LORD, for your name’s sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against you.” (Jeremiah 14:7 ESV)

“And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 20:44 ESV)

Why am I comforted? Because it isn’t about my performance!  God is acting out of a commitment to his own name, and we can ask him to act based on that commitment to himself.

I need that perspective.  God is for me because of Jesus Christ.  God is for my son with multiple disabilities because:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 ESV)

Paul doesn’t have to perform to have value to God – he is valuable to God because he was made by God, and God will act on his behalf for the sake of God’s name.

A long time ago Pastor John did a sermon on 1 Samuel 12:22 (For the Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. RSV) where he offered this:

What is the basis of the fearlessness of God’s people according to this verse? First of all it is the promise that he will not cast them away. In spite of their sin in wanting a king, the verse says, “The Lord will not cast away his people.”

But that is not the deepest foundation of hope and fearlessness in this verse. Why will God not cast away his people? The deepest reason given is in the phrase, “For his great name’s sake.” The rock bottom foundation of our forgiveness and our fearlessness and our joy is the commitment that God has to his own great name. First, he is committed to act for his own name’s sake. And then, for that reason, he is committed to act for his people.

God will act FOR us, for his own name’s sake, offering forgiveness, fearlessness AND joy!  I hope you can feel how great this is – God will ACT FOR YOU not because of you (you know how weak you are, really), but because of HIM!

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“You should embrace your suffering in the path of obedience and not run from it.” John Piper

Posted in Sermons on July 24, 2012| 3 Comments »

God gave Pastor John an especially helpful word on Sunday: He Cannot Deny Himself.  I highly recommend it.

And it also encouraged me to reflect on how books have advantages over individual sermons.  Mainly, you can pack more information into a book.

What I mean is this: it is possible to hear this sermon and put it entirely in the category of suffering based on the choice to follow Jesus.  Further, we can be tempted  to make that a superior category of suffering than suffering which isn’t chosen, such as a child with significant disabilities being born into a family.

But I think this sermon can be applied to all kinds of suffering and the five foundation stones can provide comfort in circumstances beyond suffering for the sake of the gospel, moving the emphasis away from the reason for the suffering toward our faithfully clinging to Jesus in the midst of suffering.

R.C. Sproul helped me work this out some time ago when he addressed the question: can suffering in general rather than suffering for our Christian faith be counted as sharing the sufferings of Christ?

I think it can. If the suffering is done in faith – that is, throughout the suffering we place our trust in God – then I think we are participating in the sense that we are willing to suffer and to trust God in the midst of suffering, even as Jesus trusted the Father. . .

In regard to the man born blind (John 9), the question was asked of Jesus, “Who’s sin was it, this man’s or his parents’, that he was afflicted with blindness?”  Jesus said it was neither. In other words, the question was a false dilemma. And those who asked it were trying to reduce to two options something that had more than two. There was another option. Jesus said, “It wasn’t because of his sin or his parents’ sin. This person was born blind so that the power of God and the grace of God may be made manifest.” That person was suffering not from persecution. His suffering was used by God to bring honor and glory to Christ.

I mention this instance because it is a clear biblical case in which suffering has theological value – not merit, but value – insofar that it is useful to the purposes of God. Christ himself tells us that we are going to have afflictions and suffering in this world. He certainly indicates that we are going to suffer persecution, and he gives a particular blessing to that in the Sermon on the Mount, saying that the reward will be great. He also indicates that there will be other kinds of suffering that come our way and that we are suffering in him and with him.

R.C. Sproul, Now, That’s a Good Question, pp. 473-475

I’ve gone back and forth with myself several times about posting this – even I think an argument could be made that I’m applying this particular sermon too broadly.  But I’ve decided to post it to see what you think.

In the end, I hope at least this is clear: God is entirely trustworthy and sovereign.  We can live and work and rest with confidence in him, no matter our current circumstance.

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“All children, of every degree of ability, are conceived for the purpose of displaying the glory of God.” (Repost)

Posted in commentary, Sermons on July 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

While we’re on vacation I pulled a few miscellaneous blogs from the archives.  This was first posted in January 2010:

If have any doubts about God’s goodness and sovereignty in disability, please watch, listen or read this past Sunday’s sermon from Pastor John.

Born Blind for the Glory of God – Sermon by John Piper, January 24, 2010

Here’s an excerpt:

So when Jesus said in verse 3 (of John 9), “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him,” this is the work of God—that the man see natural light and that the man see spiritual light. That the man be given natural eyes, and that he be given spiritual eyes. That he see the glory of this world, and the glory of its Maker, Jesus Christ. And worship him.

From this I conclude that in every disability, whether genetically from the womb, or circumstantially from an accident, or infectiously from a disease, God has a design, a purpose, for his own glory, and for the good of his people who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). Therefore, it is wrong to think that such children in the womb are unimportant, or without a unique, God-given worth in this world. And it is wrong to abort them—to kill them.

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“Fear not, for I am with you.” God

Posted in Scripture, Sermons on July 1, 2012| 2 Comments »

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
(Isaiah 41:10 ESV)

Pastor John helpfully unpacked this verse in his 1993 sermon, Fear Not, I Am with You, I Am Your God.  I would add one thing to his list below of things that can raise up fear in us: parenting a child with a disability with all the associated cultural baggage, uncertainty about the future, and unusual relational, physical, and emotional expense. Yes, we are called to be free from even that fear:

When God calls you to be free from fear as you do evangelism, as you take a test, as you face an interview, as you take a stand against an unjust business practice, as you confront someone with sin in their life, when you leave a secure position and take a risk in a new venture, when you face an operation or a treatment, when you lose a spouse or a friend—when God calls you to be free from fear (to overcome this natural emotion and have peace), he does not leave the command hanging in the air. He puts pillars under it. Five of them. That’s the nature of all biblical commands. They come with divine support.

  1. Fear not . . . God is with you;
  2. Fear not . . . God is your God;
  3. Fear not . . . God will strengthen you;
  4. Fear not . . . God will help you;
  5. Fear not . . . God will uphold you.

I do not live a fear-free life; it is a battle.  God is greater.  God’s word is an effective weapon in that battle.  His promises are more firm than my (or your) perceptions.

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Everyone has a gift they have received from God. No exceptions.

Posted in Sermons on June 24, 2012| 1 Comment »

Ed Stetzer preached a wonderful, and humbling, sermon on Saturday evening from 1 Peter 4:

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.  (1 Peter 4:10-11 ESV)

He was very clear that the ‘each’ who has received a gift really means each.  That includes everybody called by God.  No exceptions.

Just to make sure, I asked him after the service if this included those God created with the most severe of disabilities, like my son.

His response: “absolutely!”

That was encouraging to hear from a leader of his standing.

So, let’s work hard today to find the gifts that each of God’s creation has received from God, and work hard to equip every saint for the purpose of serving others in the strength that God provides, “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

No exceptions.

Thank you, Dr. Stetzer, for this good word!

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Keep doing what is right

Posted in Sermons on May 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

From Pastor John MacArthur’s sermon, Taking the Mystery Out of Knowing God’s Will, delivered July 16, 2006:

God wills our suffering. That’s right. God wills our suffering because he knows what it does for us. Back in (1 Peter 2:20) he says, “If you do what is right and suffer for it and endure that suffering, this finds favor with God.” God is pleased when we suffer and we endure it. Chapter 4 verse 19, “Let those who suffer according to the will of God,” that’s what it says. “Let those who suffer according to the will of God,” 1 Peter 4:19, “and trust their souls to a faithful creator in doing what is right.”

So you’re doing what is right. You keep doing what is right. You start to suffer for doing what is right and you endure that suffering and trust in your soul to a faithful God. And you are, in a sense, following the example of Christ, who, being perfect, still suffered.

Thank you to Jan Lacher for pointing out this sermon.

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“Here’s where our disability ministry just helps us so much. . .” Dr. Jason Meyer

Posted in Sermons on May 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

A two-minute excerpt from Dr. Jason Meyer’s sermon of May 5, 2012:

You can download or watch the entire sermon here.

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