Enduring When Obeying Hurts

Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross. (Hebrews 12:2)

What faith performs is sometimes unspeakably hard.

In his book Miracle on the River Kwai, Ernest Gordon tells the true story of a group of POWs working on the Burma Railway during World War II.

At the end of each day the tools were collected from the work party. On one occasion a Japanese guard shouted that a shovel was missing and demanded to know which man had taken it. He began to rant and rave, working himself up into a paranoid fury and ordered whoever was guilty to step forward. No one moved. “All die! All die!” he shrieked, cocking and aiming his rifle at the prisoners. At that moment one man stepped forward and the guard clubbed him to death with his rifle while he stood silently to attention. When they returned to the camp, the tools were counted again and no shovel was missing.

What can sustain the will to die for others, when you are innocent? Jesus was carried and sustained in his love for us by “the joy that was set before him.” He banked on a glorious future blessing and joy, and that carried and sustained him in love through his suffering.

Woe to us if we think we should or can be motivated and strengthened for radical, costly obedience by some higher motive than the joy that is set before us. When Jesus called for costly obedience that would require sacrifice in this life, he said in Luke 14:14, “You will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” In other words, be strengthened now in all your losses for Christ’s sake, because of the joy set before you.

Peter said that, when Jesus suffered without retaliating, he was leaving us an example to follow — and that includes Jesus’s confidence in the joy set before him. He handed his cause over to God (1 Peter 2:21) and did not try to settle accounts with retaliation. He banked his hope on the resurrection and all the joys of reunion with his Father and the redemption of his people. So should we.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Hebrews 1:2-3

[2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. [3] He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Isaiah 53:3

    [3] 

    He was despised and rejected by men,

        a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

    and as one from whom men hide their faces

        he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Philippians 2:8-11

[8] And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. [9] Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, [10] so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Isaiah 53:11

    [11] 

    Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

    by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

        make many to be accounted righteous,

        and he shall bear their iniquities.

Forget the Math

“Then Peter came to Him and said, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’” MATTHEW 18:21-22

 

PONDER THIS

When we hear the call to forgiveness, we often ask the same question Peter did. Where are the limits of forgiveness? When can I let go of the responsibility to forgive? Peter was asking when he could finally be done with forgiveness. But Jesus said, “This is not a matter of mathematics. When considering forgiveness, forget the arithmetic.” Jesus said, “Seventy times seven.” And this doesn’t mean precisely 490 times, either; it means forgiveness to the point of losing track of how many times it has been. If the person repents, you forgive him or her again.

If that is how you forgive, you’re not keeping a record, so every time you forgive seems like the first time. It’s not the seventh time or the eighth time because the other times don’t count. They’re gone. You’re not keeping score. Love does not keep a record of wrongs. So, you forgive freely before it becomes an infection. Forgive freely, forgive fully, and forgive finally.

When have you struggled with forgiveness? What makes forgiveness challenging? How does knowing Jesus change the way we view forgiveness?

What does it look like practically to forgive someone fully? Have you ever forgiven someone like that? If you have, what was that like? If not, what steps do you need to take toward full forgiveness?

PRACTICE THIS

Identify anyone you are harboring bitterness for. Ask God to help you forgive completely.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

A Hiding Place for the Helpless

How abundant is your goodness, which you have . . . worked for those who take refuge in you. (Psalm 31:19)

The experience of future grace often hangs on whether we will take refuge in God, or whether we doubt his care and run for cover to other shelters.

For those who take refuge in God, the promises of future grace are many and rich.

None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. (Psalm 34:22)

He is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. (2 Samuel 22:31)

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:12)

The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him. (Nahum 1:7)

We do not earn or merit anything by taking refuge in God. Hiding, because we are weak and need protection, is not a work to commend our self-sufficiency. All it does is show that we regard ourselves as helpless and the hiding place as a place of rescue.

In all those promises I just quoted, the condition of great blessing from God is that we take refuge in him. That condition is not a meritorious one; it is the condition of desperation and acknowledged weakness and need and trust.

Desperation does not demand or deserve; it pleads for mercy and looks for grace.

John Piper 

Bible Study

Mark 11:25

[25] And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”

Colossians 3:13

[13] bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

Luke 17:3-4

[3] Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, [4] and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Matthew 18:15

[15] “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Taking the Step Toward Reconciliation

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother.”

MATTHEW 18:15

 

PONDER THIS

What does the Bible say to do when people trespass against you? Go to them. You lovingly visit and confront them. How are you to visit them? Do so privately. When people sin against you, don’t gossip about them. Address your grievances with them, talk to them, and take the step toward forgiveness and reconciliation.

Human nature says, “He sinned against me. If he wants me to forgive him, let him come to me.” But when we look at Scripture, we are called to live differently. Am I supposed to seek reconciliation and forgiveness? Absolutely. Why? Because the Bible says we’re to be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. How? As God forgave us. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” In response, when someone sins against us, we do not have the luxury of waiting for them to come to us. We go to them as Christ has come to us.

How do you respond when you have an argument with someone? What are some ways you move away from people instead of moving toward them?

What is most challenging for you about moving toward reconciliation? How can God help you with that challenge?

PRACTICE THIS

Have a conversation with someone you have been at odds with. Be intentional about showing the love and forgiveness of Christ.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

The Fear That Draws Us In

“Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:20)

There is a fear that is slavish and drives us away from God, and there is a fear that is sweet and draws us to God. Moses warned against the one and called for the other in the very same verse, Exodus 20:20: “Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.’”

The clearest illustration I have ever seen of this kind of good fear was the time one of my sons looked a German shepherd in the eye. We were visiting a family from our church. My son Karsten was about seven years old. They had a huge dog that stood eye to eye with a seven-year-old.

He was friendly and Karsten had no problem making friends. But when we sent Karsten back to the car to get something we had forgotten, he started to run, and the dog galloped up behind him with a low growl. And of course, this frightened Karsten. But the owner said, “Karsten, why don’t you just walk? The dog doesn’t like it when people run away from him.”

If Karsten hugged the dog, he was friendly and would even lick his face. But if he ran from the dog, the dog would growl and fill Karsten with fear.

That’s a picture of what it means to fear the Lord. God means for his power and holiness to kindle fear in us, not to drive us from him, but to drive us to him. Fearing God means, first, fearing to abandon him as our great security and satisfaction.

Or another way to say it is that we should fear unbelief. Fear not trusting God’s goodness. Isn’t that the point of Romans 11:20? “You stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.” That is, what we should fear is not believing, not having faith. Fear running away from God. But if we walk with him and hug his neck, he will be our friend and protector forever.

John Piper