What Problems And Suffering Can Do - Part 2

Today on Fellowship in the Word pastor Bill Gebhart challenges you to become a fully functioning follower of Jesus Christ.

Private not only this, we exalt in our tribulations were tribulations is…… Means afflictions, or distress myself so most abundant how many documented none of the most because it's going to be so good swimming it can be good.

We never think affect our prayer life about our own tribulations stop at stop at stop whatever you do, you must stop it, not in a hurry joining us today on this additional fellowship of the word pastor Bill Gebhart Fellowship in the Words the radio ministry of Fellowship Bible church located in Metairie, Louisiana. Let's join Pastor Bill Gebhart now is once again he shows us how God's word meets our work. The chapter starts out just what Paul was talking about in context. Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. But Paul's going to change something you want to talk about something else and that's what he does in verse three it says and not only this, but we also exalt in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance. Perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit was given to us. It says in English we exalt in our tribulation. That's kind of unfortunate from my point of view because the word exalt is the word culture my and if you look at culture. My you find out that it has a couple ways is translated and exulting is not a very exacting word culture my means to take pride in order to brag or boast about. So whenever we go through really some difficult boast about. That's what he say brag about. That's that's kind of a strange thing take pride in it. Not only this, we exalt in our tribulations were tribulations is… And… Means afflictions, or distress in place offering some boast about. If you're suffering that how many of you thought about that. I think I should be posting about this why would I be posting about it because it's going to be so good for me see what I mean it's can be good for me. We never think this CO are all affect our prayer life about our own tribulations. Suffering is what stop at stop it stop it. Whatever you do, you must stop it is not in a hurry. Here James chapter 1, you know the verse as well.

Consider it all joy, my brother, when you encounter various trials the same idea because he said again what trials do trials a test of your faith and trust will produce endurance and endurance will make you mature here. He says, knowing that trials bring about perseverance or endurance, and endurance brings about proven character, proven character will give you hope while there's a lot of things you and I can suffering with God's gonna say is and I'm just gonna let it continue. And all you can do is endure. We don't like this is true for good Job. How much was he suffering immeasurably to us lost 10 children lost all his servants lost all his wealth lost the respect of his wife had a terrible marriage then lost the respect of everybody in the village. He was consider the wisest man in the village.

He lost everybody's respect.

Then he got so ill that he ambit up using broken pieces of pottery to scrape the sores off of his body and ended up living on the dump outside the city walls in regards to doing this is good for you. This is good for you really using really and that's what the book of Job's about halfway dimly through Job and member was Job, innocent yes. So what Job want to know is what we always want to know right. Why wait, why am I going through this guy never told he challenges him because God's whole view is look I'm loving and sovereign you not to go through anything that hasn't pastor me first. I can tell you this, it will give you maturity. Proven character and that'll produce in your life. Hope nothing of this hope in the Bible is future certitude means I'm certain what's gonna happen. That's what the beautiful promise of heaven is for us. No doubt my mind I know where I'm going Bible to me that over and over. The second coming of Christ. No doubt my mind is called the blessed hope is coming, but if I have hope. What is a produce for me now. Peace. If I have hope and peace and that's what he's trying to say here you can have.

You will have peace. He toughens him up and what's interesting is he does it because he loves us, and because he is a really really good parent your child and he's doing this for your good night know if you're young person per se. I can stuff all the time right I'm only doing this for your own good, but a good parent us. What a lot of parents do child going to face tribulation or trials rescue gonna stop it.

I gotta make sure my children never experienced anything negative while that's a mistake.

That's a real mistake because are going to go in the real world, which is cursed be surrounded by other sinful people and it's coming in. No have no ability to handle it all. That's not what a real parent does this, think about this idea of rescuing one of Ruben if you read the story room and try to talk his brothers are getting Joseph out of the pit and giving Joseph back going back to his father.

One of Ruben living right what they've done then lost their lives in the great famine was about to come member one of part of her had believed Joseph what you did, but rescue Joseph from his own wife and dense Roman prison, Joseph was spent the rest of his labor slave upon herself.

God had much bigger things in mind for Joseph is. That's what God did. He had much bigger things in mind for Joseph so problems can create opportunities problems can promote maturity and problems reveal who you really are. Please understand this. The revelation is not for God. God never put you through a trial, so he knows where you really are. He's putting you through a trial so you'll know where you really are is he reveals who you truly are and that's hard to do it this way right now most of you are what I call relatively wonderful people that the church experience you been wonderfully been well mannered, you see, you have insulted anybody yet but we haven't done a lot of whining and complaining unless the sermons too long or some like that but really I'm gonna lobby you wish everybody God bless you and we want that's in the place then you going to real world. That's a little bit different. You and then you end up somewhere like intensive care teacher can figure their you can't who you really are is going to come true right there your spiritual maturity can be evident in her to you completely.

There, that's the way life is. So God and in this sense with God. God wants to reveal something here. What is Joseph really like. So now go back to Genesis 50 with me for a moment. Genesis 50 and verse 19 right at the end of the book there some things about Joseph a new leader so stories are interesting and never once in the Bible says he was afraid now when you think you might be sold as a slave what's going to happen to me Potter for the Pharaoh's executioners wife said you tried to seduce her get to me on the spot Naumann prison may miss the rest of my life.

You see could be up never says he's afraid it's interesting because every phrase of Joseph life. Every phase of the grocery says God was with him. God was with him and you know what that means he was with God, wasn't just with him. He was with God only through so he finally reveals himself to his brothers as he finally reveals himself to his brothers and his brothers now know who that guy is a please understand, it's been 15 years. People always asked me what it is. Brothers recognize her brother will couple reasons we go see Pharaoh in the not-too-distant future. They make them look Egyptian yes to be shaped images had shaved everything shaped he's an Egyptian.

He's not a Hebrew, no one ever mistake the two. Secondly, he speaks fluent Egyptian. By the time as Prime Minister of Egypt and so and with the brothers ever think I'm gonna stand in Pharaoh's court's court and see my brother.

I may not a chance that's going to happen so they never look for and that's part of the beauty of the story, but at the end of it all. Notice verse 19 Joseph says to his brothers do not be afraid, but they were terrified because you know what they're thinking. What I do if I was in a spot I know we did. Now, what would I do if I was put in the spot he said I'm in God's place and what Yemen God's place, how to get here, God sent me much as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. In order to bring about this present result to preserve many people live so I know I got centimeter to save the lives of tens of thousands of Egyptians and to save the lives of people in Israel he said.

Therefore, don't be afraid I will provide for you and your little one. So, be comforted and spoke kindly to while she that's an amazing thing when you think about it that reveal what kind of person Joseph was old-time so don't think he set insulted in prison. Sanchez Kimberly my brothers to dismay just can't believe it. Never once has he ever victimize himself. I can't believe is Pharaoh's wife also accused me like The river do that. Do you ever do that shortly and makes it worse.

We can talk to our friends in the wall not let us that's right that's right you are done dirt will be different problems reveal who you really the fourth thing problems can produce and should produce dependency on God by the way, that will be a process.

The worst problems like you face a ride ever faces when you have no solution and there's nothing you can and I realize got them in a situation why come here just coming in by waving, you can go anywhere else where you end up reluctantly going. If you want to come to you, Lord. I think I can get. I thought I could work my way out of anything. There things you can't. Life is not fair as the whole book of Ecclesiastes.

Life is not fair. Don't expect it to be and you and I both know something, don't we know life's not fair, but be honest but you expect your life to be fair, you do what this is right.

Okay. I can't believe he did this, you know why they did it secret. Their sinners that are sinful people do you see that's what ends up happening to us as we go through this idea of this dependency on God see it all through Scripture, Daniels and Babylon notices, and God was with them and never hear Daniel complain is never without any fear is in Babylon. Paul's in prison in the New Testament odds with Paul Ferrigno, is he not all you see this over and over again. We can make our greatest impact on the basis of how we handle problems and suffering in our lives give you a few names. There's a man is very famous to me and I hope he would be famous to you his name's Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Alexander Solzhenitsyn spent a lot of years in and wrote the book the gulags archipelago. The communist put them in a gulags in Siberia. Unbelievably horrifying experience.

Solzhenitsyn finally got out and he wrote the gulags archipelago is influenced worldwide. Almost beyond belief. I can remember way back in the 80s reading about him. He was at how many classes he was addressing the graduating class of Harvard.

Ask him to be the keynote speaker that is a devoutly Christian man who went through a living hell and they want to hear what he has to say and that was his ministry over the world. If he had not gone to the gulags. None of us never heard of the guy no one would, Corrie 10 boom, Corrie 10 boom and her sister spend the time in a Nazi concentration camp, and when you read the hiding place you start realizing how formal this was. But we all knew she was if she had gone there no never heard anything should have no ministry.

Johnny Erickson taught unbelievable.

Here's a girl of 17 is perfectly healthy and decide to take a dive into the Chesapeake Bay and miss misjudges the depth of the water and comes out of the water. A quadriplegic.

She was 17 she been a quadriplegic for 55 years. Know what you think about that. Nothing from the neck 955 years that long enough for you is that suffering enough for you and then you think about what she's accomplished on my she's a master painter. She puts the brush in her mouth as she is a master painter.

She White Sox she sings songs she's in authoress. She writes books. She speaks all over the world met in 2010, they detected to breast cancer so she had to have radical mastectomy, both breast removed can imagine that going through that is a quadriplegic 2018. The cancers back same area of the body so she goes to intense radiation and chemo again 2019. She gets covert and she said this was so difficult for me. She said as a quadriplegic. I have real trouble breathing. Anyway, and she said, so I had all kinds of labor trying to breathe. She spends a lot of time in intensive care in the hospital. It's an amazing thing to think how do you go through this.

I would invite all of you go on YouTube. Corrie 10 Amina and Johnny Erickson, Tana and she is about a three minute response to what she how she handled covert and when I watch that not only did I cry but I was humiliated for myself. This woman's this woman. Spiritual maturity encourages overwhelming. It's overwhelming. I mean look after 55 years. The quadriplegic and then have both your breast removed and have kids or combat being a cancer free, then get call when you think you going to dive covert now no anger, none no victimization.

None. How do you do this is a how do you do this, the impact of Solzhenitsyn a Corrie 10 boom Johnny Erickson taught is overwhelming because of what they've suffered and how they went through it because all of us respect that and always usually doubt that I ever done it myself. I don't know if I could. The last thing problems prepare our hearts for ministry. That's what ends up happening to prepare our hearts for ministry. We have an ability to give comfort to other people.

Second Corinthians chapter 1 says that when we go through hardship, God will comfort us, but our responsibility after we go through is to comfort others. Now the way God comforted us so we can have a ministry and help other people in that comfort and it's kind of an interesting thing. If you think about it if you're a cancer survivor. You have the capacity to comfort other can't. People with cancer much greater than anybody else because I know how you feel is the cancers of us and know how you feel that your diagnosis.

Stage III stage IV rent that's a mindless fly could get some hope.

I do that and get some comfort. What if you try to guide and person come up to humans that I know what it's like my daughter, my son died to that comfort.

They been there.

They know how you feel.

They know that helplessness. You see, what if you lose your mate there whole groups for that there whole groups of people to get together and guess what, everyone in the group watch their mate and they comfort one another because they know exactly how the other people feel.

What if you have a severe handicap other people with severe handicaps could come for you. That's the way life works. So if you suffer through something and you come through it with the right attitude.

You have an enormous capacity to help other people going through the same thing as your you know it's interesting to me that problems can create opportunities problems can promote maturity problems can review all you really are. Problems can produce dependency on God and problems, he said, can prepare our hearts for ministry, but they often don't see is one word in their identity problems are going to do these things. I said problems can. There's a word can problems can do all this doesn't mean it will. That choice is yours.

Usually that was Joseph's is that's Daniels that's Paul's that's Corrie 10 boom, that's, you know, Johnny Erickson taught a that's Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

They if they phenomenal success stories but yours might not be like that all when you face you see you and I have an enemy in the first time you face will suffering a real problems. The first thing you want to tell you is quick just quit, just quit or maybe even more to it. Another idea and this is big. In a country victimize yourself make sure you victimize yourself.

What was mutable and open to believe it happened to me. It's amazing how we do this if I ask are you do you believe everybody in our country anywhere our country you go, people are going to occasionally suffer. Do you believe that all I believe that minute Ranger doorbell. I can't believe this happened to me but you just said you believe that yet, but I didn't think for me not become a victim see that that that is such a defeatist attitude will never be able to be used greatly by God will be have that attitude worse than that if you become a victim.

I can tell you for sure what you're going to become better every bit of the rest your life.

Your your identity be will be have something terrible that happened to your past, that's who I am is a my name's Bill Gelbart. You know I'll get Tyson father never really appreciated me what it that's why am I guy was father never appreciated my doing.

See why we do those kind of things because we victimize herself by this, but in all these cases keep saying God is with them. God is with them.

Joseph's suffering and problems created opportunities with them is his problems promoted as majority is problems reveal who he really was. His problems produced a dependency on God and his problems prepare is hard for ministry. And eventually, by the way, the cupbearer told the Pharaoh about the dream because the Pharaoh had a dream, and no one interpreted and so Joseph went interpreted for Pharaoh. And guess what eventually happened in Prime Minister Egypt. He told the Pharaoh that a great famine is coming and the only way the only way you can prepare for is take all the surplus now and stored so you will be able to feed your people. Later in Pharaoh's. I put in charge of everything. So he went from the outhouse to the penthouse from the prison to the palace. All because of the way he handled his problems in his suffering. God wants to use your problems and mine exactly like the author said Howard Rutledge in Hanoi for his glory and for your good.

But the choice is yours. The spring father.

This is a great example. But I know from my own experience and experience of other. This is hard for us.

This is a struggle for us.

We find ourselves suffering or in a problem we can't solve and bore the flesh just screams out to us.

This is in fair I'll never get through. I'm angry at somebody that's not your will, because no matter what comes our way.

As Joseph said you intended for good.

You said in Romans 828 all things work together for the good for those who love Christ Jesus. Father I pray we can use this perspective because if we do it alone and give us peace through everything that we experience, but also make us effective and be able to reach out with two others with the good news of Jesus Christ. Father, I know that problems and suffering are not enjoyable and I know none of us would wish it on ourselves in this room is a reality. We will use pastoral Gelbart on the radio ministry of fellowship lower if you ever missed one of our broadcast or maybe you just like to listen to the message one more time.

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