A Concluding Look at Biblical Lament - 16

Many months ago and the adult Sunday school class that I have the privilege of teaching here in beacon.

We were working our way through Paul's letter to the church at Philippi and just methodically working our way through verse by verse and we came to a verse that I read in your hearing tonight and that is verse 14 do all things without complaining and disputing, and was my intention simply to touch on that and move on. But the class had further designed to hit the pause button and we spent a class and 1/2 wrestling with that text because of the seriousness and the weight of it is a prohibition.

It is a command that something that God commands us not to do is not something that's peripheral to the Christian life.

It's something as we began to consider the subject provoked the wrath of God and brought judgment upon the children of Israel, so we were wrestling with how to reconcile the command do all things without complaining and disputing with the fact that there is inspired text known as the book of Lamentations and that one third of the sacred hymnbook of the church. The Psalter contains about 40 lament Psalms, so by the third or so of the Psalter has this genre so we wrestled back and forth and lots of things were said in the class and that was the provocation for my further study and subsequently the series of messages on biblical lament that we've considered and tonight is the 16th sermon. I was humbled as I went back and considered the sermons that I have preached on this subject. 15. Not counting this one, 591 minutes almost 10 hours of standing here preaching on this one. Subject, which represents 125 or hundred and 50 hours of study to be able to stand here and preach and just feeling the weight of that thankful for God's leading.

Thankful for the sense that the series is been a help to stew a lot of our people and some extremely helpful and glad that God knows all of our hearts and knows what we need in knows how to direct in these affairs but knowing also that tonight we were going to have membership testimonies in knowing that I took that 591 minutes that I preached and divided into 15 sermons and I preached an average of 39.5 minutes per sermon. So, for whatever that's worth.

But tonight, for the sake of time in more for just the economy of words so I'm struck that sometimes less is more. You what I mean by that. So this may be a foolish attempt tonight, but what I want to try and do is try and bring a summary message. I'm really not preaching from a text which is very unusual. But I've tried to just distill what we've considered over these weeks and have confined my thoughts to 10 statements and six principles so again I didn't want to re-preached sermons I've already preached you endured with me already oneself. I didn't want to demand anything more you have more of you in that regard. So here are 10 salient points from our series, and again, I simply want to read these statements. I won't say too much about them simply because of our time and really just think on these words.

Again, the economy of words that less is more. Number one work were considering the subject of lament in lament.

We are honest with the struggles of life while at the same time reminding ourselves that God never stops being God were honest with the struggles of life while reminding ourselves that God never stops being God.

One of the one of the things that surfaced in our class and 1/2 wrestling with this prohibition was a key hermeneutical principle that context is King that this prohibition is found here in Philippians chapter 2 in verse 14, and it cannot and should not be understood apart from the great condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ coming to this earth to rescue sinners like ourselves needed not only come to save us from the penalty of sin.

He is, his rescue is far more comprehensive than that he intends to rescue us from the power of sin in one day deliver us into his presence, freed from redeemed from the very presence of sin itself.

So not only the penalty of sin, but the power of sin and the presence of sin. So keeping in mind this prohibition is in this context, not just this passage that speaks of the great condescension of our Lord Jesus Christ probably humbled himself, made himself of no reputation, but in the context of being told that were to let this mind. This mind be in us, which was also in Christ Jesus. And what mind would that be one of humility, obviously, but one of submission one of surrender. One of yielded to the purposes of God in them. When you consider further the Paul says again in the immediate context, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do according to his good pleasure. We can understand this prohibition outside of God's dealings with us in progressive sanctification is Christians, we understand that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. So every difficulty every trial even even car wrecks the newly take your life is we've heard tonight given testimony concerning was used of God for good to help this brother further on in his walk of sanctification and therefore understanding that we understand that it's off-base to be grumbling and complaining with God concerning his dealings with our soul because he paid such a price to redeem us and he's invested so much to secure that were going to end up in glory why when we fuss and fight with God about that. So again in lament were honest with the struggles of life. We don't stick our head in the sand. We don't pretend that it's pie-in-the-sky were honest with life and it's this broken world, but were also reminding ourselves that God never stops being God.

Number two Lamentations the book of Lamentations and this entire study on lamenting shows us that hope does not come from a change of circumstances. It comes from what you know to be true. Despite the circumstances you find yourself.

That's good news because if you're trying your hope and your consolation to a change in circumstances where does that leave you when your circumstances don't change and they linger in a go on week after week, month after month, and perhaps year after year. Hope does not come from a change of circumstances. It comes from what we know to be true. Despite our circumstances number through you, live through suffering by what you believe, not by what you see you live through suffering by what you believe, not by what you see or feel we must anchor our life to biblical truth.

Our emotions are feelings they vacillate they come they go there on reliable the run. They're not trustworthy in the things that are eternal. You cannot see.

You can't apprehend with your five senses.

We need to vehicle of faith to apprehend an appropriate these things that are eternal. So if if we are taking our cue from what we see will be deceived will be confused and if we take our cue from our feelings and our emotions will find yourself in a ditch. What will sustain us. What will help us. What will right the ship when our life is been knocked off course is what we know to be true based on the word of God. Lamentations reminds us that the problem in the world is sin, and God is the only one who can make it right.

That study in the book of Lamentations. We spent five weeks there. The description of the destruction of Jerusalem and the consequences that came were devastating.

Lamentations reminds us that the problem in the world is sin all the those consequences was the result of people who thought their way was better were not going to submit to God when I can yield to God will not obey God when I can worship God were going to do what we want to do. That's a lie that doesn't produce any kind of peace, nor freedom, but heartache and bondage.

Number five the smoldering ruins of Jerusalem sent a message and Lamentations is its Memorial. God does not want us to escape that there are serious consequences for sin and disobedience and therefore, for an everlasting Memorial in the sacred pages of Scripture is five book chapter 5 of five chapter book of the Lamentations as a memorial.

The lesson is that God is long-suffering and God is merciful, but rebellion against his rule has consequences, rebellion against his rule has consequences. And I feel like I need to stand here and say that about 12 or 15 times just to get your attention because we can hear that and we can just dismiss that out a hand and say yeah but the outcome small circumstances. No big deal I can get on with life.

I can I can maneuver I can make my way. So baby won't alter life too much really.

We are thinking that way you need to be mindful of the fact that we are warned not to be ignorant concerning Satan's devices and he wants you to dismiss this out of mind.

He wants you to minimize it. He wants you to marginalize it with.

Please rebellion against God's rule has consequences, serious consequences. Number six the entire book of Job is designed not only to highlight innocent suffering innocent suffering, but also to demonstrate that human questions and complaints. Eventually, and in humble worship for the child of God you walk through the book of Job in your walking in the shoes of a man who's just been blindsided by devastating sin and its consequences. Sin he's got all kinds of questions he's puzzled is bewildered and he's trying to keep his footing and keep a right relationship with God and what what is God doing through the whole thing bringing him to a place of humble worship number seven through the Psalms of lament. There is this consistent destination of trust through all the pain and the questions and the unfair treatment at the hands of others and the injustices lament leads us to a place of worship number eight lament leads to trust.

But the path is not always clear or straightforward, and by turning to prayer and laying out our complaints and boldly asking we are brought by God to a place growing trust in him.

That's God's intent. That's his purpose in this. And remember, I said this a number of times through this study. Remember were not talking so much about a destination. As we are about a journey were too much focused on a destination and God is more focused upon a journey and what he's going to do in us during the process number nine complaint is central to lament complaint is central to lament.

So how do we reconcile complaining over against this clear prohibition in verse 14 to do all things without complaining and disputing part of the answer I think is that we are careful that we are not complaining against God in his dealings with us.

We can complain about life and it circumstances in the injustices of the world but make sure that you're not complaining about God. You can complain to God but guard your heart against complaining about God and his dealings with you. I think that is a key distinction to make complaint is central to lament. But Christians should never complain just to complain instead we bring our complaints to the Lord for the purpose of moving us toward him and then number 10 in all that we feel in all the questions we have in this journey there comes a point where we must call the mind what we know to be true and act on it. God is long-suffering with us he's patient with us. He invites us to come and pour our hearts out to him, but at the end of the day. There has to be a but I'm going to trust the sovereign God. There has to be yet he still in control. The comes a point of decision where we decide okay in light of all of this life is still amassed. My life is in turmoil. This is the way I plan my life to be. But I'm going to trust God. Why will back to Philippians chapter 2 based on what we have of recorded here concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and what he did to come to the sin cursed earth on a rescue mission. What grounds do you have to be complaining and contending with him. You don't. I don't and we need reminded of that now there are six statements that I want to make that speak to the place of lament in the Christian life.

Number one lament is a language for struggling Christians, we find language here biblical vocabulary and a model for talking to God about our pain and helping those who also are in pain and who are suffering. This biblical warrants here. There's this biblical precedent here, not just in the Psalms, not just in the book of Job, but throughout our Bible, there's language here that we can borrow and find yourself on safe ground. It sets parameters force. So in lament, we find the language. Secondly, we find your solution for silence. What I mean by that I find too often people are either afraid or refuse to talk to God about their struggles, whether it's because of shame of fear of rejection, anxiety or concern of being irreverent. Pain can give pain can cause people to be prayer lists well God sovereign. He didn't consult me on this. This is my law. This is his will for my life to just suck it up and get on with life and talked on Monday to talk to God about it in that doesn't that doesn't resolve the turmoil in your life. It's a solution for silence. It opens the door for some people in its Brea brings hope into people that there is a way to talk to God about my pain and to do it in a in a helpful way in a God Honoring Way, #3 we find in biblical lament, a category for complaint what I mean by that. Well, it helps us to see that complaining to God is not necessarily sinful.

I think most of the time we've been off of the opinion these God you don't you don't raise any concern you don't you don't utter a complaint you don't know there's there's a category here that perhaps is been on tap for by many Christians. It helps us see that complaining is not necessarily sinful that there is a way to express grief in a biblical way in a God honoring way and for some that's a water that's been a watershed issue. I it's been five heard people say has been so freeing to hear that there's a biblical precedent here there's instructions here on how to proceed where I just left on our own.

Number four biblical lament provides a framework for our feelings because lament is not just the given doesn't just give us a warrant to spew every emotion. It's in our heart and life lament validates the expression of pain while providing a framework there's a there's a God centered structure. There's guardrails here were vocalizing our pain were at the same time trying to avoid falling into the trap of self-centeredness so lament endorses expression, but only the kind with the right objective because you know how it is you give yourself to complaining and pretty soon you're not just complaining. You are a what a chronic complainer and we don't want you to be that I don't want you to be that I simply want you to see that here.

Here is a of grace given vehicle that has merit in Scripture validated in the Scriptures. There's guardrails around it that can help us in difficult times. So here's a framework for our feelings. We need framework because very easily.

We can become sinful in this whole regard. I think it's right for us to suspect our emotions and be I'm not sure suspects right word to be guarded with our emotions, because once you take the leash off of them. Who knows were going to go right so we we need we need some parameters. Typical parameters that keep us from sinning. In this regard. Number five, it's a process lament is more than a biblical version of the stages of grief in the psychological world no denial and anger in bargaining and depression and finally you just get to the place where you accept that this is an this isn't the biblical version of that right.

It's a process.

It invites God's people on a journey as they turn to God layout the complaints ask for his help and ultimately choose to trust in number six. It is a way to worship. It is a way to worship and we don't want a side of that is not by accident that we turn to the book of Psalms when we want to consider the subject in one of the book of Psalms.

It's it's the warship hymnbook of the church. We have this notion that somehow until I get everything sorted out and are above a happy frame of mind that I can't worship God.

I can't bring God honoring worship tooling. One of the things that is help me and been an encouragement to me is the realization that Joe perhaps offered the most God honoring worship to God in the midst of most severe is pain that any man could of experience. It was after all that devastation and loss that he shaved his head, fell to the ground and said the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

He worship the Lord. You see that warship was in the face of the accusation of the evil one who said to God, yeah Job worship you yet. He's a follower view you.

But you know the warship you take the stuff from them and you'll see worries at all. Kind of a Hardee's got himself. That was the accusation of the evil one God did allow the removal not of his stuff, but of the most precious possessions a man could ever have his own children, and yet he still worshiped. I thinks some of you have known that when you've been emotionally out of sorts and you've been struggling, it's the Lord's day, and you know your places to be with the assembly of the saints, and you say well I just don't feel like coming to church is not in the right frame of mind go to church and yet you win that battle over your emotions and you say you know what regard is how I feel. I'm still going to church and you come to church and God enables you to worship and you realize that your ability to warship is not tied to favorable circumstances and for some that's a huge step in the growth and unfortunately there are some who who will never get there. Things go sour and things go bad, and I'm an emotional roller coaster and I just feel like playing at home on the Elliott home. Does that make things better is is that is that the right remedy is is that the sad you need to know what happens on top of everything else is going on now you got the guilt of not doing what you know you should have done right yet so it works because not God is allow you to use that as an excuse to disobey his word for sake, not the assembling of yourselves together is the manner of some is there's no clause there that says only when you feel like it.

Only when things are going well.

Only when no so I'll let you decide whether that was the economy of words, but I look in his 7:12 so I wrestled with how to bring this series to a conclusion. I've thought of looking at Lamentations chapter 51 more time and I still may do that or this may be the end of this series, but know the word of God is so powerful is life-giving in its life-sustaining and I don't say this out of any pride whatsoever. But you know when someone listens to a sermon, and receives blessing will get a short note from sermon audio and I got such a a encouraging note this week from somebody who listen to a sermon that I preached right here in 2002 in the thought crossed my mind, there is no shelflife on the word of God. You we were somewhere in rarely does my wife and I shopped together, but we were in this shop together and I find myself over to Clarence and I looked at this jar something and it was drastically reduced. She said something that never even crossed my mind. She said check the expiration date but had a label over the expiration tape didn't know Why We Were so Swedes Were Suspicious. The Reason It Was on Sale Was the Date Was Going to Come Very Soon. There's No Expiration Date on the Word of God. It's Life-Giving Its Life-Sustaining and Here Somebody Who Listen to a Sermon That's Been Archived on Sermon Audio That Was Pretty 17 Years Ago and God Minister to Them. That Shouldn't Surprise. It Should Got His Built That in the Creation I like to Garden. I Learned from My Father-In-Law That If You Have Seating You Want to Preserve Them, Put Them in Freezer. I've Taken Seed Out Of the Freezer. That's Dated 1215 Years Old. Take That Seed Put It in the Ground and Guess What Life Comes a Life so Gods Used To Study in My Own Life. It's Been a Help to Me. Trust It's Been a Help to You. Trust Will Be Helped Others down the Road and It's One of the Responsibilities. One of the Weighty Weighty Responsibilities That We Said We the Sense As Elders Is Our Job Description Is to Equip the Saints to Do the Work of Ministry, so Our Teaching and Preaching Ministry Has in Equipping Aspect to It.

We Realize Worked with Were Ministering to You and the Needs That You Have in Your Life. But It's Also Designed by God to Equip You, WhoWhat's Coming around the Corner of the Highway of Your Life.

Who Knows What's Coming around the Corner on the Highway of the Life of Somebody That God Gonna Bring across Your Path. You Don't Give Us a You Know What I Heard I Heard This and Thinking on This Been Reminded of This Church and Got Going on Allow You to Speak a Word in Season to Somebody. I've Set There and Listen to a Sermon and Realize You Know What That That That That Has No Application in My Life Whatsoever. As I Sit Here in Houston. Be Guilty of Dismissing That Just You Know Your Say Really Your Preacher and Your Saying That You Not Realize No. It May Not Be a Specific Application My Life Right Now.

There Sure. Maybe Next Week and Next Month and Three Months from Now or a Year from Now. It's Frightening How Quickly Truth Can Escape Us Things That Are Clear in Our Minds Tonight. How Challenging It Will Be to Recall It Tomorrow or Next Week.

I've Had Some of You Say to Me, Complement Me about a a Message That I Preached Last Week and I've Had to Think I Don't Want to Preach Last Week I Me Know What Your Complementing Me about Nothing and of the Man Who Spent All His Time Preparing and Preach the Message. Can't Remember What He Preached. What Hope Is There for You Right, but Will Not Have To Ourselves. That's the Good News This Preachers and Left to Himself. Close the Door to My Study and Get My Bible out and Begin to Pray and Study on the Left of Myself. The Holy Spirit of God, Who Knows My Heart Knows the Needs of This Congregation Inspired This Text Is Breathing Me. It Was to Bring Breathe Life into Loss and He Will Bring Things to Our Minds and Help Us If the Very Point That We Needed. So Let's Pray Father, Thank You for Tonight. Thank You for This Study That You've Let Us in Biblical Lament.

I Prayer God. It Would Be Helpful in Profitable and Bear Fruit in Our Lives. Lord, Thank You for Loving Us and Giving Us Instruction for Pilgrim Way on in This Life Minister to Us According to Our Needs Because Your Word and Live in Us. I Pray in Jesus Name, Amen