The Purpose of Suffering - Pastor Martin Barnard

It's such a privilege to be with you all this evening. When Pastor Daniel contacted me, some time ago about speaking to you all tonight, I was just so excited. For a couple of reasons. Number one, because I I enjoy being here every time I'm able able to be here, especially when I get to hear pastor Daniel. But I enjoy being here even when I have to stand up here, or I get the privilege of standing up here and sharing the word with you all.

But also because even before he had called me, I felt like the Lord had already laid on my heart, the text that he wanted me to speak to you all from tonight. And I want you to take your bibles and turn to second Corinthians, the very first chapter, second Corinthians chapter one. You're gonna realize very, very quickly into this message tonight, one of the reasons why I I love so much, the authority and power and certainty that we have from God's word. And, that's especially true for me as a preacher because there's a lot of things that I don't know very much about on a personal experiential level. I just haven't been through them.

And, and if if you wanted to to ask me questions, there's not a whole lot of wisdom that I could give you. I was talking to to Peter before the service about I have a brother that that, works in building trades, and, he's he's got a lot of skill in that area. And I've tried to use what little bit of skill I've got, and sometimes it turns out alright and sometimes it doesn't, because that's just something I don't I don't know a whole lot about how to do. And, tonight, I wanna talk to you about suffering and comfort. And there are a lot of you, here tonight that if you were talking about suffering from the level of experience, you could do a lot better job than I could.

But we don't really want to know what any of us have to say about it. We wanna know what God's word has to say about it to us tonight. And so, second Corinthians, the very first chapter, and I wanna read the section starting at at verse three, One of my favorite passages in the entire New Testament. And this is what Paul has to say to the church at Corinth. Second Corinthians chapter one verse three.

Blessed be God, even the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our consolation also abounds by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same suffering, which we also suffer, or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing that as ye are partakers of the suffering, so also ye so shall ye be also of the consolation. Let's bow our heads.

Heavenly Father, I come to you tonight and I just ask for your spirit to come and rest on this place. Lord, I don't have anything profound or special to say, but your word is speaking to us. And I pray that the Holy Spirit would come and anoint my lips that I might rightly teach your word. And, Lord, I pray that you would rest on this group that as they hear your word, that you would open their hearts to the word, Lord. And that they would receive it and that it would find a place in their hearts and that Satan wouldn't be able to steal that word away, but that it would take root and that it would bear fruit.

We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen. I I said to you, this isn't a topic that I would know a whole lot about on an experiential level. I've I've been through a few things myself, but but if I were to give you, like, the list, some of you maybe do a little eye roll because I've had a good life. But when we come to the word of God, we can stand on its authority and hear what it has to say.

And so we can come to it knowing that no matter what you've experienced, no matter the depth of sorrow that may have have happened in your life, that God's word has something to say to you. The passage that we just read this evening is is from the apostle Paul. And this was a man who did know what suffering was like. He had experienced it himself. He was someone that could have stood before you as a preacher and talked about the suffering that he'd experienced, and you would have needed to set up and take notice.

He he was an authority about that kind of thing. In fact, from the very beginning of the Apostle Paul's ministry, we find that his life is marked by suffering. If you look at at Acts chapter nine and verse 13, this is in the very this is actually right at Saul or Paul's conversion, And God has come to Ananias. Remember, Saul's been struck blind on the road to Damascus. Now he's in a house.

He's been three days completely blind. He hasn't eaten any food. And God comes to to a man to to come and speak the word of God into Paul's life. And Ananias says to God, when God says, I want you to go to Saul and speak to him. This is what Ananias says in verse 13.

Lord, I have heard from many people about this man how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem and here he has authority from the chief priest to to tie up all those who call upon your name. But the Lord said to him, go because this man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. How how would that be for like an altar call? Like, I wanna tell you guys, come to Jesus so you can suffer. And that's that's Ananias' message to Saul.

And and evidently, God is is giving Saul some sort of a revelation about the suffering that Saul's going to experience at the very beginning of his ministry, when he first turns to Christ. So Saul is someone who from the very beginning, Paul, from the very beginning of his ministry, he is familiar with what suffering looks like. Not only does it start his ministry, but the ministry that he carries out is marked by suffering. In fact, it's a theme of the book of second Corinthians. It's something that he comes back to again and again.

Two different places, in second Corinthians chapter six. Paul talks about the suffering that he he's experienced. He says, as servants of God, we commend ourselves in every way by great endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the holy spirit, genuine love. And this is a a passage where he is highlighting the things that he's been through, and then it comes up again as if he's not emphasized the point enough. It comes up again in second Corinthians chapter 11 in verse 23.

He says, are they servants of God and servants of Christ? And he's he's referring to the people that are opposing him in the church at Corinth. He says, are they servants of Christ? I'm a better one. I'm talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, often near death.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews 40 lashes, less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day, I was adrift at sea on frequent journeyings in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.

And apart from these other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. This is this is Paul speaking of what he knows about suffering. That's that's what he's speaking of when he says, in all our affliction. That's what he's talking about. He knows what it means to hurt.

And not only does Paul personally understand that, but Paul is talking to a world, Paul lives in a world that is acquainted with suffering. They know what that's like. We live in a world full of comfort. And if you they think you're gonna be uncomfortable and you you go in for a a surgery procedure, they're gonna make sure that whether it's medication or whether it's anesthesia, they're gonna take care of you. When you're laying in a hospital bed and they come in and and ask you if you need anything, what's your pain level?

And you say a four or five, they're gonna get you something to take care of that. But that's not the kind of world that Paul lived in. That's why I'm so glad I can turn to the word because I I am a wimp when it comes to suffering on a personal level. I just a few weeks ago, I went to the dentist and I told people afterwards, like, I I thought I was gonna I literally thought I was gonna pass out at one point because there's nothing I'm more afraid of than dentists. I'm terrified of them.

I'm more scared of dentists than I am of standing up in front of people and preaching. Definitely, I'm I'm more afraid of dentists than almost anything. But in the world that Paul is preaching to, they didn't know anything about all of the blessings and comforts that we have here. So this is a world where many, many people are enslaved, and slaves had no rights whatsoever. This is the kind of world where not only was abortion something that happened, but if a parent didn't want a child, if a baby was born and they had a girl instead of a boy, we can know from records.

Literally, we have letters that that point to to civilized Roman officials who would tell their wives, if if it's a girl, just leave her out to die. That's the kind of world that that Paul is preaching to and speaking to, and that's the kind of thing that Paul is speak speaking about when he says, in all our affliction, in all of our sufferings, in everything that we go through. And some of you, maybe internally, you you kind of do a little eye roll on the inside when I'm talking about all the pain, the suffering that Paul experienced, the pain of the world that Paul was in. Because in your own life, you would fill in the blank with something and you would say to me, brother Martin, I wish that all I had to deal with was physical pain or some something that caused me a little bit of discomfort because my life is marked by tragedy. Things have happened in my life, and I don't know how to cope with them.

In a world that knows how to fix everything, we've forgotten how to even deal with suffering, with real genuine suffering in our lives. And that's the reason why we can be the most affluent nation on the planet, And yet, we we live addicted to to drugs and alcohol and and pharmaceuticals to try to fix our hearts because we don't know how to deal with suffering. And that's why we're coming to the word of God because we say, what does God's word have to say to me in my suffering? He says, Paul says this, in all our affliction, he comforts us. You know, not only is is Paul speaking out of the the persecution and affliction and suffering that's marked his own life from outside of the church, but he's specifically writing this letter because of how deeply this church has wounded him.

It really changes the whole way I read the book of second Corinthians when I realize that Paul is writing this letter to this church because the church is trying to decide whether or not Paul is a genuine apostle. Do you know how painful that would be? This is Paul's church. He birthed this church, and they want him to give him to to give them some credentials, some proofs. In in second Corinthians chapter three, Paul actually responds to this.

He says, are we am I supposed to commend myself to you? Do I need and it's in verse one and two. Do I need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you? And he's he's making kind of a side note at these traveling false apostles that would carry around letters, maybe forged letters to to try to prove that they were genuine apostles. And and Paul is giving this word from the depths of his own broken heart to a church that is rejecting him.

So this isn't just physical pain that Paul has dealt with in ministry. This is deep betrayal and a sense that the people that should have stood by him have turned their back on him. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that Paul would understand a little bit about how you feel. Paul knows about afflictions. And Paul is trying to give us something to hold on to in the midst of our own sorrows.

I don't know your stories. Just the handful of you maybe that have said something to me here or there, let me know. That I know in a group this size that there's a lot of stories, a lot of sad stories, stories of family that have hurt you and wounded you, of friends that have turned their back on you. But God responds to our sorrow. And and I wanna look at three different ways, and we're gonna kinda walk through the scripture, three different ways that God responds to our suffering.

You know, there are people that they have this picture of God that kind of started the world spinning and then just kinda took a step back and let things run however they were gonna run. And we even have little phrases that we use that kind of hint at that. Like, how many of us have said, well, what will be will be. And it kind of it kind of has that fatalistic sound to it, doesn't it? Like, whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen.

Because maybe maybe somebody believes in God. Now what a dark future, what a dark view you have of life if you don't believe in God. Because then there's there's no and we'll get to that later. There there isn't ever any reason in our suffering. But even some people that believe in God, they have this idea that God doesn't really intervene that much.

But scripture pictures for us a God who cares deeply about this world. The first thing that we see about God is that God sees our pain. He sees our suffering. Like, he knows about it. He recognizes it.

One of the reasons why scripture is just packed with people's stories of suffering. This is God's book, and he's filled it with stories of brokenness and pain so that we would know he knows what we're talking about. He sees our suffering. Suffering is this intensely lonely feeling. There's there's nothing quite as isolating as the feeling that no one around you understands how you really feel, what you're going through.

And I've been in a place before, a dark place, where I tried to reach out for comfort, and it left me frustrated because I felt like that no one around could really understand, you know, or maybe they didn't even notice. But God sees our sorrows. In Exodus 24 I'm sorry. Exodus chapter two and verse 24, this is the beginning, the opening of the the story of Moses, the deliverer that god has sent to the children of Israel. But look at the reason why god sends a deliverer to them.

It says that god heard their groaning. What is their groaning coming out of? What is their sorrow coming out of? Well, these are people that are enslaved. They're they're not just slaves, but they are made to they're forced to work to build Pharaoh's storehouses and and his cities.

And when they when they grow to size that they become a threat or they're seen as a threat by Pharaoh, then Pharaoh institutes infanticide against them and and, the the midwives are are are killing or are tasked with killing the babies. And, of course, when the midwives don't do that, then Pharaoh has another plan to toss every every baby boy into the river the Nile River. But God heard their groanings, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. Look what it says there. I think this is so beautiful.

God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. If I were reading it in the King James, it says God had respect unto the people, the children of Israel. But I love the way the the SV puts it here, what it says, and God knew. He remembered, he saw, and he knew. And that's the first thing I wanna tell you tonight is that that god sees and knows the suffering and the sorrow that you're going through right now.

He understands it completely. There might not be anybody around you that you feel like understands where you're at, but God does. But God doesn't just see and know about our sorrows. Hannah, just for for another passage here, Hannah says in first Samuel chapter one and verse 19 I'm sorry. This is the story of Hannah when she's she's barren and she's praying for a baby, for a child.

Look at the way it it words it. It's that same that same phrase all over again. The second half of that verse says, Alkanah knew Hannah his wife. She's praying for a baby, and the Lord remember her. We can see that again in another man who who suffered.

In fact, his name is almost synonymous with suffering. Job. In the story of Job, remember that Job is going through the depths of grief. He's lost all of his wealth, all of his riches, all of his children, and his health. And in chapter 19 in verse 23 of the book of Job, Job is is not only has he lost all these things, but then his friends come and they just do a pile on, basically.

They just just dog pile Job. And Job says, oh, that my words were written. Oh, that they were inscribed in a book. Oh, that with a pen with an iron pen and lead, they were engraved in the rock forever. Isn't it so beautiful that Job is saying those words and we're reading them?

Like, Job's prayer is answered. God hears. He remembers. He sees. He knows what Job is going through, and he, in fact, answers Job's prayer, and that's why we know his story.

But that isn't all that God does. In fact, we're reading the story because God comforts us with his word. There are a lot of things that people turn to for comfort in this life, and some of them have a certain amount of effectiveness. Alright? And I want you to understand very much.

When I when I made a comment earlier about pharmaceuticals, I'm not saying when some people are in a a clinical depression, and sometimes you need to take medication, and that there's nothing sinful or wrong about that. But there are times where there's underlying issues that aren't resolved. And in fact, this isn't just something that a preacher would say to you, but any qualified psychiatrist or counselor would say, there's things under there that need taken care of. We can turn to to therapy and and different things, and those things can help. I'm not I'm not trying to denigrate those things, but I'm saying we need something more than that.

We need something to give us certainty in the midst of life that shifts and changes so rapidly that makes us feel so uncertain and unsettled. And Job in this story, in in the book of Job, what he's crying out for is he wants not only wants God to see and know, he wants to be remembered. He doesn't want people to forget what he's been through and what he's going through. And we read his story in scripture and that begins to comfort our hearts. The word of God speaks comfort into our lives As we look to the word of God, we see within it the words of God written and given to us.

And this word breathes comfort to our hearts. He speaks to our pain through the word of God. I'll just give you just a couple of quick verses that that speak about that. Think of first Peter chapter four in verse 19. Let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator.

This is God speaking comfort to you right here and right now in whatever the situation is that you're facing. The whole last third of the book of Isaiah is full of words of comfort. God is speaking to his people, letting them know he knows what they're going through. I read a story. It's been a long time ago.

Just a a short little it was actually an illustration. But in it, the the man that was telling the story, he told about, his memory of growing up. He was a a young boy when the Vietnam War was going on, and his brother was drafted into that war and saw and experienced terrible things. And he said, at that time, their their phone was right in the middle of the house, like, in a hallway. And he could he could still remember to this day, he remembers his brother calling home broken by what he was seeing.

And he he can remember hearing his dad just every few minutes as his brother was pouring out everything that was going on. His dad just kept saying, I love you, son. I love you, son. That story touched my heart when I when I read it, but it also made me hurt even more because I can only imagine what would feel like to be on the other end of that phone call. And all you hear is, I love you, son.

Talk's cheap, isn't it, sometimes? And those words can feel a little bit far away. And that's why I'm very grateful that God not only sees our suffering, and he not only gave us his word to speak to us in our suffering, but God stepped into our suffering. Like, he came. He didn't just look on our suffering and say, well, I'll try to do a little something about it.

But the thing that he did about it was he stepped into our story. His response the response of god to our suffering is not to remove suffering from our lives, but to experience it with us, to stand beside us. I'm gonna reference, the story of a missionary later on in this in this message this evening. And there's she recounted a time when she was experiencing severe persecution to the point where, rebels that were taking over the country that she was ministering in, Congo, were actually threatening her life, and she stands before this raging mob. And then suddenly standing on each side of her are two converts, two young men that have come to Christ through her ministry.

And she says to them, leave. They just want me and they're going to kill me. Leave. Run. They said, we know.

We know that they're going to do that to you. That's why we've come. You won't die alone. They've Jesus stepped into our story and he experienced the pain and grief and sorrow that you and I have experienced. In fact, Hebrews says that he he's been tempted like we are.

And because of that, he's able to comfort us in the midst of our temptations. Chapter two and verse nine of the book of Hebrews says that. It says, but we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus. He's crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death so that by the grace of God, he might taste death for everyone. For it is fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things can exist in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.

Jesus has stepped into your world. He knows what you're going through. He understands it. But there's still a question in our minds at times, like, why? Why suffering?

Why do we experience this? Like, you've told me, pastor Martin, you've said that God doesn't just fix our suffering, but he steps into our suffering. But that doesn't make any sense to me. Because if I can choose between fixing people suffering or joining them in their suffering, I would definitely choose fixing their suffering. Right?

I think everybody here would say that. If I could choose between fixing all the suffering or just stepping into that suffering with them. I would just fix it. And so I want you to understand that the Bible actually teaches us that there is purpose in your suffering. There's there's a reason why you're going through that suffering.

And I believe that this is true even if you are not a believer, even if you're not a Christian. Someone might be sitting here and you say, brother Martin, there's nothing you can say that can give purpose to my suffering, that can convince me that anything I've experienced actually has meaning and purpose because I don't even believe in God. But the scripture tells us that that god allows those things into our life to wake us up to who he is, to his reality so that we'll turn to him. Now for for us that see suffering as the worst thing and comfort as the best thing, that's very hard for us to understand. That feels very cruel.

But the reason why god allows this that to happen, why god brings suffering into our life, not only does he allow it, but he actually he purposes to bring that suffering into our life. And the reason why is because apart from him, our life has no meaning anyway. Suffering, comfort, good, bad, riches, poverty, none of those things mean anything apart from some objective value. And until we've turned to God, whether our life has suffering or whether it doesn't, doesn't even matter. It might matter to us on some personal level.

Maybe we prefer comfort over suffering, but actually, I would I would actually say that every single one of you here, on some level or another, there are areas in your life where you would actually choose suffering over comfort. One of those is is about our physical health. There's some of you that spend time every single week trying to work on being as healthy as you possibly can be. And you walk away from the gym and you're sore and you burn and your muscles hurt, and you're doing it because there's a there's a purpose beyond it. There's something that you're you're aiming for.

Do you understand what I'm saying? How much more would God, in his goodness, allow suffering into our lives to turn us to him, to help us to turn our hearts to him? If you wanted a a scripture, not just one verse, but a whole psalm that speaks to this. It's the the hundred and seventh Psalm, and you can just write that in your margin just to realize that that's a Psalm. This is the Psalm.

Some of you maybe could even quote sections of it, but it's the Psalm that speaks of it says, old men would praise the Lord for his goodness, for his wonderful works to the children of men. He satisfies the longing soul. He he fills the hungry with good things. And then it speaks of people that turn away from God. They've rejected God.

And God sends what does he send into their life? He sends trouble. He sends suffering. And the reason is so that they'll praise God, so that they'll turn back to God. He realizes that apart from him, there's no purpose, there's no meaning, there's no happiness, there's no life.

And so I would just plead with you right right here, right now. If you don't know God, turn to him. Come to know him. But for some of you, you've come to God, and that makes suffering even harder to understand. For for a lot of you us, if if you were anything like me, we grew up maybe without being taught or seen in scripture why God allows suffering and trouble and turmoil in the life of a believer.

And in fact, I've heard many sermons. I've probably preached a few of them myself that if somebody who didn't know any better were to sum the sermon up into one sentence, they would say, I guess it sounded like that pastor Martin was trying to say, come to Jesus so you can have a good life. Okay? That that's not what the Bible says, but it does sound like that's what some people are saying sometimes. I've tried to fix that in myself because when we talk about the sorrow that comes to those who don't know God, okay, there are a lot of sins that bring trouble and turmoil into our lives, and they're a result of alienation from God, and turning to God can fix some of those things.

But what can come out of that is, we'll turn to God, and everything will be fixed in your life, and you'll have a good life. But that is not really what scripture teaches. And if you turn to God on those kind of terms, it can in fact shatter your faith and even send you away from God when you experience trouble in the Christian life and you say, this isn't what I signed up for. It's like you it's like you showed up at army boot camp, and you thought you were showing up at, like, a slumber party or something. You're like, I I don't get this.

This isn't what being a Christian was supposed to be like. But the scripture tell us tells us that this is actually what being a Christian is supposed to be like. Over and over again, Jesus tells his disciples that that following him means a cross. Following him means persecution and suffering. Why?

Well, because it's good for us. I I've read more than once the the the the verse in the Psalms. I I love it. In fact, it's repeated two different times in Psalm one nineteen, where the psalmist says, it was good for me that I was afflicted so that I might learn your righteous commandments. That cuts to the core of my heart because what it reminds me is if I'm experiencing the sufferings, the purpose in them is for me to turn more deeply to God, so that I'll turn to Christ, and so that I'll I'll dig more deeply into his word, so that I'll learn his law.

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I could learn your righteous judgments. Suffering awakens us to reality as believers. It it reorients our priorities. Suffering makes us more like Jesus. In fact, on a literal level, because Jesus was the suffering servant, Isaiah 53 describes the depths of suffering that Jesus went through.

And the New Testament over and over and over again reminds us that when we suffer, we are being like Jesus. When we're suffering as a Christian. The way Paul says it in Philippians chapter three verse 10, he says, it's his prayer. His prayer is that I may know him. And it's easy to skip over, to go from the power of his resurrection to just kind of skipping the next line, but that's pay close attention that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.

Do you know that Paul didn't just mean that in some spiritualized sense? Many times when we read the scripture, we we kind of spiritualize everything. I don't know if you do that, but sometimes I do that a little bit. Because it's more comfortable to read when I kind of, like well, he means, like, kind of like die out to some of my desires that I didn't really want that much in the first place. And hopefully, I'll be able to hold on to the things that matter most to me and die to self.

But Paul is speaking of a profound reality in his own life that I may know him. The King James says in the in the fellowship of his suffering. When we experience suffering in our lives, that suffering as a believer, as a Christian, that suffering is intended to help you to grow in Christ likeness so that we can become more like Jesus. In fact, when we read the passage in Hebrews chapter two, remember? And when when the writer of Hebrews says that it pleased the lord to make the captain of our salvation perfect through suffering, the idea is that Jesus to be a complete, to be everything that we needed in a redeemer, in a savior, he needed to experience suffering.

Sometimes we think of the scripture as this story that God has given us to kind of make us, to increase our own importance or or something. At least that that can be a a trap that we fall into. But I I have a quote here from Eugene Peterson that when I read it, it it struck me so deeply. And this is what he says. When we submit ourselves, our lives to what we read in scripture, we find that we're not being led to see God in our stories, but our stories in God's.

Do you see the difference? We're not being led to see God in our stories, but to see God's to see our story in God's. God is the larger context, the plot in which our stories find themselves. And this is what Paul means when he says, in all our affliction, he comforts us. God has allowed this suffering in our life to bring us to Christ and to draw us closer to Christ and to make us more like Jesus.

But he doesn't stop there. Paul doesn't stop with just that little phrase, who comforts us in all our affliction. But he gives a larger end to it. And if we miss that, we really miss the purpose of the text because he he goes on to say, in all our affliction, he comforts us so that we may be able to comfort others in their affliction. Do you know that there are people around you that are hurting too?

Suffering has this this tendency. Suffering that's not suffering in Christ, especially not suffering that's given to Christ, but suffering can have a tendency to turn us inward. And there's a there's a great temptation, especially in our culture today, to turn us into victims. Do you understand what I'm saying? And I'm not saying that in any way.

Victimhood is real. I I'm not I'm not casting off on that. What I'm speaking of is in the way that we see ourselves, we see ourselves as victims of what people around us have done to us and the way that they've hurt us. And that's especially true when we don't see those things as coming through the hands of the providence of God. When we see our life as meaningless, it would just be natural that we would see ourselves as victims.

Right? But what Paul is asking the people to do is to turn their eyes away from their own suffering and to realize that the comfort that God has poured into their lives is for the purpose that they are gonna be able to comfort the people that are around them. Now if if Paul says that we should comfort the people around us with the same comfort that God has given us, then it would follow, wouldn't it, that all the things that I said about the comfort that God gives us would apply to the way that we should comfort the people around us. Right? So what does that mean?

Well, what it means, first of all, is that we should notice. There are people that you pass every day whose lives are are a a broken mess, and they're waiting for someone to notice. And our temptation is to become so self focused and so self centered that we don't see the people that pass us daily. I have to work on this. I have so far to go.

I told you all, there's times where as a preacher, we step behind the pulpit, and we try to give the message from God's word as best we can, even when we feel like there are so many times that I fall short. But one of the things that God has burdened my own heart with is those people that I pass in Chicago almost daily at intersections that are standing there with their cardboard signs. And I don't know their stories, but I know that success isn't what brings you to those street corners. You know what I'm saying? It's it's not this great high paying job that puts them out there, that that humbles them to the point that they'll stand and ask perfect strangers.

And I I realize that that there's a question about enabling, enabling addictions and different things and just just creating more problems than you're solving by giving money in situations like that. And I prayed about, god, what do you want me to do? How do I how do I do something about this? And I I read somewhere where somebody mentioned that they keep, protein bars in their car. And I thought, you know, that's a really good idea.

That that's something that I can start giving when I when I'm pulling through those intersections. And so I'll roll my window down, and I'll ask for their name, and I'll I'll hand them one of those protein bars. And I'm reminded in that moment of how big the problem is and how how little my help really is. I'm just doing what I can. And part of what I'm doing is not just about them.

It's about me. It's about keeping my heart sensitive and reminding myself of how good I have it. And my kids, when I rolled the window down, they they wanted to know, like, what are you doing, daddy? Why is he out there? And so I tried to explain to them, he he doesn't have anywhere else to go.

You know, that's very hard for a two year old and a four year old to understand. And when they don't understand it, it reminds me more deeply of all the privileges that I have, like how much I'm blessed. And then they wanna know, why are you giving me candy bar? Like, to them, when they have food on the table, when they have clothes, when they have a house and I just tell them we're just doing the best we can do. But I start learning their names and I just remind myself that I'm trying to see them like God sees them to step into their lives.

I'm not saying this for points. I'm just telling you all what I've tried to do because I realize how hard I can grow in my own heart against the suffering of the people around me. But it's not enough just to see. I told you that God speaks into our story, but he doesn't just speak, he listens. You know, there's a lot of people out there that and a lot of them stand by the pulpit like this, and I just I can talk and talk and talk, but, you know, people need you to hear.

Jesus did that. You know, he did that when he was here on earth. He did it repeatedly. He stands with the woman at the well in John chapter four, and he listens to her story. She's rude.

She's racist, and he listens to her. He hears her out. He listens to her story. One of the most beautiful examples is the woman with an issue of blood who touches the hem of his garment. Remember?

She's healed. Right? There's no need for a conversation. She's unclean. She's been ostracized socially because of the physical issue that she's had.

She hasn't participated in in worship for twelve years. She's an outcast, but she's healed. There's no need for Jesus to interact with her. And he stops, and he says, somebody's been healed. Virtue went out of me.

Somebody touched me. I wanna hear their story. And when the woman realizes Jesus doesn't just say, how are you doing? And the answer is supposed to be fine. Do you know what I'm saying?

We do that a lot, don't we? Like how's it going? And the answer is always good or okay. We don't we don't stop to but Jesus doesn't want to just hear her say, it was me. And he's like, okay.

Let's go on our way, guys. We've got a we've got an appointment with Jairus' daughter. Instead, he stops. The woman comes trembling forward, and then she tells Jesus everything. Jesus took the time to hear people's stories.

And you and I, we need to hear people's stories. We need to hear what people have to say. I I'm convinced that one of the biggest barriers sometimes to sharing the gospel with people is just assuming we already know about them. We get them in their little pigeonhole. This is especially true if they're, if they're very open about sin that's in their life or their ideology or their mindset, and we can kind of fall into, the tendency of of some YouTube star.

And we've heard him win debates before, and so we're gonna try the same tactic. But what seems to work so well on YouTube doesn't spread Jesus very well. I don't know if you all have experienced that same thing or not, but it's kind of difficult to share the gospel while you're owning people at the same time. Stop and listen. Hear what they have to say and then speak.

Do you know God's word is to them? He's giving his word to them for them to hear. But it's not enough enough just to listen. It's not enough just to see. We need to step into their stories.

Step into their lives. Now that's gonna look different for every single one of you. The what it what it means to step into people's stories. For some of you, maybe there's somebody here that god has already begun burning on your heart, to to go into the ministry, to the mission field, to, to go into to full time Christian service somewhere, and maybe somewhere other than Chicago or maybe in Chicago. And so you already have your mindset on a group of people that god has already begun to burden your heart for.

But think about the people right here, right now, the people that are part of your story, that you're already in their story. But sometimes we're in their story, but we get our walls up as high as we can, and we pull as far into our shell as we we can because we don't like our life life to get messy. And sharing our story with other people is messy. Stepping into their lives and stepping into other people's lives is messy. But if God can help us with the spirit of Christ and the the love and the compassion that he showed, if God can help us to begin to care enough, to be really authentic, to begin to practice some transparency, some honesty, some openness till people can see that we wanna be part of their life.

We wanna make a difference for them. In a in a group this size, it would be amazing if we knew how many hundreds and hundreds of people your stories intersect with. People that pastor Martin will never even meet, let alone have a chance to bring comfort to them. People that pastor Daniel may never meet, but people that God has put in your life. And God is asking you to to speak into their life, to bring comfort to them.

One of the things I love about this word, the word that's used here, comfort, It's it's used about 30 times in the New Testament, and and 10 of those times, one third of those, is in the little section that we just read this morning. And it's related to the word, for paraclete or comforter. Remember the the holy spirit? When God says Jesus says that I'm not gonna leave you comfortless, but I'm gonna send you the holy spirit. And and the idea is someone who comes alongside of, someone who steps up and puts their arm around you and says, I'm here with you in this story.

Do you know how beautiful it would be if you and you and you and you, all of you, would take this and walk out with it and pour it into other people's lives? The difference you can make. Some of us are trying to change the world, and we've got things in our own block that we could do something about. Changing the world, it might bring some momentary enthusiasm, but it's overwhelming because it's too big for us. We can't change the world, but we can change our neighborhood.

We can change our household, our home, the people that interact with us every day. We can make a difference in their life. Romans eight speaks about this comfort that God wants to bring into our lives. I said to you earlier that it's the purpose that God gives to our suffering, it's that that ultimate purpose that gives meaning and hope and helps us to walk through our sufferings. There there are a lot of there's kind of a resurgence in a Greek philosophy called stoicism, and some of you maybe even follow some guys.

You maybe heard some speakers. I think, there's a guy named Tim Ferris. I haven't really heard him, but I have heard a guy named Jordan Peterson. And I'm I'm sure there's at least one or two of you here that have probably heard him at some point or another. And he he talks about the reality of suffering in lives.

But because he doesn't have that ultimate purpose, it's kind of a, like, grin and bear it. But when we see that ultimate purpose that God is leading us to because what I want you to understand is that life isn't just about suffering. It's not just about, well, let's try to to keep stiff shoulders through this life, through all the burdens that we carry. But Paul makes clear that ultimately, God will be glorified through our suffering, and we will be sharing in that glory. When we share in the sufferings of Christ, we share in his future glory.

That's that's what Paul says in Romans eight, and I I haven't written the verse down, but the entire second half of the chapter is full of words about this. But you remember the the verses that say, I believe, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. That's Paul's words to us about the depths of God's glory through the suffering. The woman that I spoke about earlier, her name was Helen Roseveer. She was a missionary to Congo, a single lady who never married.

And, she she tells her story. And one of the things that she says in the opening to her story, she said that she shaped her life around a question. And the question was, is it worth it? Whether we're budgeting our time or our money, that's a good question to ask. Is this worth it?

Some people spend unbelievable amounts of money, and when I look on, I'm just like, I wouldn't spend my money on that. And they may look at some things I buy and like, I wouldn't spend my money on that. But it's still a good question to ask. Right? Is this worth it?

And this woman was very educated, well disciplined, and as she shaped her life around that question, god led her to become a doctor, in fact, a surgeon in England, and then into the mission field. And she took, ship and headed to Congo to minister, to the the people in Africa. And she ministered there for eleven years, from from 1953 until 1964. But in 1964, something happened in Congo. The Simba uprising took place.

And in that uprising, because of the the the way that colonization had had just destroyed the nations of of Africa and specifically, in this case, Congo, there rose up really a very understandable resistance and anger towards the, European interlopers, basically, the foreigners. And in spite of the fact that she had poured out her life for these people, she was swept up in that. And they came and essentially destroyed everything that she had spent those eleven years to build, the hospital, the the orphanage, the the homes, a whole a whole missionary compound that was ministering to the sick and bringing people to Jesus, and all of it is is destroyed. Not only is all of her work over those eleven years destroyed, but she is personally abused, violated, and then taken captive by these angry, screaming rebels. And at one point in that that terrible evening, she's taken outside and they tie her to a tree, and she's already been through so much that evening.

But as they're ransacking her cabin, they find the handwritten manuscript, the only one she has of the book that she's been writing about all that God has done in their mission over the last eleven years. And they bring the book out and burn it right in front of her. And she says that as as she saw the book going up in smoke through her clenched teeth, she says to herself, is it worth it? I've never experienced anything like that, But emotions are funny things. And I've been through times in life where I went through very difficult times, and it felt like God had abandoned me while I was trying to minister for him.

And you ask yourself, is it worth it? Eleven years of my life poured out in selfless service for these people, and now this. But she said, in the moment that she said that, God's holy spirit settled over that terrible scene. He stepped into the scene. You see that?

He's there. And he began to speak to Helen. And this is what he said, and I'm I'm quoting her words. He said to me, Helen, my daughter, you've been asking the wrong question all your life. Helen, the question is not, is it worth it?

At this point, I I have not personally heard this story, but I had it repeated to me. My brother was listening to a radio program about this woman and repeated the story to me that she mentions the fact that there's a there's a a piece of currency from the Congo. And on one side of it is a a a montage of the workers of Congo, and it represents the labor that goes into earning that piece of currency. And it kind of just sums up that question, is it worth it? The amount of labor and time and effort that I spent on that, is it worth it?

But on the other side of the currency is a picture of the king, the king of Congo. And in that moment, the lord says to the holy spirit says to to Helen Roseveer, the question is not is it worth it, it's am I worthy? Am I the Lord Jesus who gave his life for you, worthy for you to make this kind of sacrifice for me? And she tells through tears that God broke her heart in that moment, And she looks up to Jesus and says, I don't know if I could say this. But she says, oh, Jesus, it is worth it because you're worthy.

He's the king. Do you see what I'm saying? It changes the whole question. And she she goes back as she tells this story, and she talks about the moment that she was going down the hallway as she's already been, captured and the the rebels are in her home, and she's being drugged down the hallway after already been beaten. And and this this night is just a nightmare.

And she says, I wasn't praying. I was beyond praying. Someone back home was praying earnestly for me. If I'd prayed any prayer, it would have been, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And suddenly, there was God.

I didn't see a vision. I didn't hear a voice. I just knew with every ounce of my being that God was actually vitally there. God, in all his majesty and power, he stretched out his arms to me. He surrounded me with his love and he seemed to whisper to me.

Twenty years ago, you asked for the privilege of being a missionary. This is it. Don't you want it? The privilege of being identified with our create with our savior. And as I was driven down the short corridor of my home, it was as though he clearly said to me, these are not your sufferings.

They're not beating you. These are my sufferings. All I ask of you is the loan of your body. And an enormous relief swept through me. One word became unbelievably clear and the word was privilege.

He didn't take away pain or cruelty or humiliation. No, it was all there, but now it was altogether different. It was with him, for him, in him. He was actually offering me the inestimable privilege of sharing in some little way the edge of the fellowship of his suffering. In the weeks of imprisonment that followed and in the years of continued service looking back, one has tried to count the cost, but I find it all swallowed up in privilege.

The privilege of serving Jesus. It's been about seven years ago that, our family had gone through some difficult things, just some some little rough spots. And we went down, to record a CD, my sister, and the rest of my family. And, we had recorded several songs, but my sister decided to pull a surprise and she went back and, and began to play and sing a song that she hadn't played or sang for us before we went to the studio. And I still remember as the first words came, I started doing what I'm doing right now, crying.

And it really, to me, it just sums up everything I've been been trying to say tonight, really. If it pleases him to bruise me, if he desires to make me trust, if his motive is to break me and to turn my dreams to dust, If he longs to withhold from me that which I love most, to wake take away from my prideful heart the reason why I boast, I know that he is pure. His ways past finding out. If he satisfied to bruise me, who am I to doubt? If he strips me of my glory, which was his all along, if he robs me of all happiness and takes away my song, all that he expects, all he requires is a heart that trusts his heart and hopes in his desires.

If our ambition is to please him, if our desire is his smile, if we long for his approval, like a father with a child, we would trust him in all chastening and believe that he knew best. We would hope in his refining, and in his affliction we'd find rest. We know this isn't just a song. Now, this isn't a particular scripture verse, but it sums up to me a concept that God is trying so hard to bring to us to help us to carry our burdens and to suffer well. And this is the reason why it burdens me so deeply is that suffering is not a, a possibility in this life.

It's inevitable. It will happen. And I hope that I've convinced those of you that know God to turn those sufferings over to him, to give them to him, to lay them at the feet of God as an offering. But for those of you that don't know God and maybe even this message has been has been painful for you, that wouldn't be my intention at all. But I know sometimes when we when we reach down to the deep things in our heart, they are painful.

And the question would be, brother Martin, I I can't do this. I can't open my heart to God, but here's what I want you to see is that your suffering and that purpose is to bring you to God. And if you walk away from that, it it literally breaks off that purpose in your life, and so that that does make your suffering meaningless. On a certain level, you you live in an emptiness of your own choosing. And that's why I'm I'm begging you to turn to God because when you turn to him and you you lay at his feet the sufferings that your life contains, He infuses them with meaning and purpose.

It's not a question of if, it's a question of how. How will you carry these things? Will you bring them to Christ and lay them at his feet? Or will you hold them close to yourself and refuse to accept his forgiveness and peace? If you turn your back on this, it's it's as if we've begun a journey and we make it so far and we come so close and we choose to turn around and walk away.

All of the distance gained, all of what we've experienced at this point means nothing then. But if we do turn to him, if we come to him, he will take our suffering and he'll make something beautiful out of it. Take the life that that we give him and he'll give us purpose. He'll give us meaning. He identifies himself so closely with the church.

And I I I thought of this as I was preparing this tonight. It's it's not just Paul's life that was marked by suffering. But I I do have to wonder if part of what drew Paul to Jesus before the scales fall fall from his eyes on the Damascus Road is the fact that Paul was the reason for the suffering of so many Christians. He watched them suffer, and he watched them suffer well. And when Jesus comes to Paul on the Damascus Road, what does he say to Paul?

He says, Paul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You know when you're in Christ, your story becomes intimately his. You're suffering with him. You have somebody beside you. And as you are knit into his body, the church, we suffer together.

We love each other enough to share in that suffering. And then God longs to use that suffering to pour comfort into the lives of other people. When when we read that passage and it says, our comfort overflows. Did you notice that? He says, because our comfort overflows, and then the comfort from us overflows to others.

It's this idea of of an overwhelming flood of comfort that's pouring out of the suffering that Paul's experienced. And when I read that, if you'll just bear with me, this is the very this is my last little, It's a it's a story. And these three stories to me are the the the song and the two stories. They highlight what I'm trying to bring across in in a better way than I ever could. And this this story is a little bit quaint.

It's a it's kind of a a a folk tale, so to speak, but it's the story of the bamboo. And this this is what it says. Once upon a time, lay a beautiful garden, and there in the cool of the day was the master of the garden who went for a walk. And of all the dwellers in the garden, the most beautiful and beloved was a gracious bamboo. Year after year, bamboo grew yet more beautiful, and he was conscious of his master's love and watchful delight.

Yet he was modest and gentle. And often when wind would come and revel in the garden, Bamboo would throw away his dignity and dance merrily, and tossing and swaying and leaping and bowing in joyous abandon. He'd lead the great dance of the garden, which was the delight of the master's heart. But one day, the master drew near to contemplate the beloved bamboo. With eyes of curious expectancy, the bamboo bows his great head to the ground in loving greeting, and the master speaks, bamboo, bamboo, I would use you.

And bamboo says, master, I'm ready. Use me as you want. Bamboo, the master's voice was grave grave. I would be obliged to take you and cut you down. A trembling of horror shook Bamboo.

Cut cut me down? Me? Whom you, master, have made beautiful in your garden? To cut me down? Oh, not that.

Not that. Use me for your joy, oh, master, but do not cut me down. Beloved Bamboo, the master's voice grew graver still, if I don't cut you down, I can't use you. The garden grew still, the wind held his breath, Bamboo slowly bent his proud head, and there came a whisper, Master, if you cannot use me unless you cut me down, then do your will and cut. Bamboo, beloved bamboo, I would cut your leaves and branches from you also.

Master, master, spare me. Cut me down and lay my beauty in the dust, but would you take from me my leaves and branches also? Bamboo, alas, if I do not cut them away, I cannot use you. The sun hit his face, a listening butterfly glided fearfully away and bamboo shivered in terrible expectancy whispering low, master cut away. Bamboo, I would divide you in two and cut out your heart, For I if I do not cut so, I cannot use you.

Master, master, then cut and divide. So did the master of the garden take bamboo and cut him down and hacked off his branches and stripped off his leaves and divided him in two and cut out his heart. Lifting him gently, he carried him to where there was a spring of fresh sparkling water in the midst of the master's dry fields. And putting down one end of bamboo in the spring and the other into the water channel in his field, The master gently laid down the beloved bamboo. The spring sang welcome.

The clear sparkling water raced joyously down the channel of bamboo's torn body into the waiting fields. And then the rice was planted, and the days went by. The shoots grew, the harvest came. In that day was bamboo once so glorious in his stately beauty, now more glorious in his brokenness and humility. For in his beauty, he was life abundant.

But in his brokenness, he became a channel of abundant life to the master's world. And I can't think of a of a story outside of the scripture that sums up what Jesus did for us and what he calls us to do for others. The suffering he experienced had a purpose, an end, and it was salvation and redemption for you and I. And he allows us to step into the story of redemption in through our brokenness to spread his gospel in living reality. Paul says that he is filling up the sufferings of Christ.

I wrote it down. I can't find it. He's he's filling up the sufferings of Christ in his own body. And the idea is that his brokenness is in some way bringing to accomplishment what Jesus has already finished. Do you understand what I'm saying?

It's not in any way that ours that our our suffering is somehow necessary. Jesus did everything, but he invites us in to that suffering so that the gospel can go out and be poured out to this world. That's what he's calling you to. That's what he's calling you to. George McDonald says this, the son of man came and suffered and died, not so that mankind may not suffer, but so that our sufferings could be like his.

Let's bow our heads. Heavenly father, you see that through my my stumbling lips, the best that I know to do, I've tried to share the message that you laid on my heart, but I know it doesn't accomplish anything if it your Holy Spirit doesn't drive the message deep into the hearts of those that are listening. And I pray that you would do that, Lord. Help us help us to say yes. Yes to whatever you've brought into our lives.

The people around us mean it for destruction. Satan means it to sift and destroy us, but you mean it for our good and the good of the people around us. Lord, we embrace it. We lean into it. We accept the fellowship of your suffering.

And for those here that don't know you, Lord, I pray that you would help them to see a glimpse of hope, of meaning, of purpose. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.