"Do Not Fear," New Album from @ThousandTongues Now Available

"Do Not Fear," the latest album from Thousand Tongues, is now available for purchase at Bandcamp (Digital Download - name your own price // CD - $13). A text I wrote, "When Sorrow Comes," is featured on the album. The album can be streamed in full here:


Here's the album's description:

Matthew 14:22-27 records the story of Jesus walking on the water. His disciples were in a boat, fighting a fierce storm in the dark of night, when Jesus appeared. When the disciples saw Him they were terrified, for they thought that He was a ghost. Jesus reassured them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." Telling them who He was should have been enough to calm their anxious fears, but the disciples were scared not only of a ghost, but also by the storm. When Jesus invited Peter to come out to Him, walking on the water, Peter stumbled in fear because of the wind.

So it is with the Christian life. In times of trial, believers are reassured by these same words of Jesus to remember who He is and the power He wields. But when He calls us from cowering in the boat to face the storms of life head-on we quickly doubt and despair. Our great assurance as we walk out onto the stormy sea is that what holds us up is not the strength of our grip on Jesus' hand, but His grip on ours. While we may doubt, He never ceases to be faithful and powerful, rescuing His children from danger and reminding them of His constant and mysterious love.

This collection of worship songs features the recurring imagery of waves – waves of doubt and grief yet also grace. As you listen and hopefully sing these with your congregation, our prayer is that you would come to trust and love Jesus more deeply, with more and more of your life, including the most guarded and wounded pieces of your story. You will find the Lord to be a powerful guardian, gentle physician, and Father who loves you so much that He can barely contain Himself. And if you haven't met Him for the first time, we hope that your heart will be captured by the grace of God presented in these songs.

And track descriptions:

1. You Are My Righteousness - An acoustic pop arrangement full of the joy of basking in the righteousness of Jesus.

2. My Precious Savior Gave His All - This 12-string guitar driven arrangement with some sparse pedal steel accents serves the lyrics well.

3. Do Not Fear - An electric guitar driven rock arrangement that could easily be the most powerful track on the album.

4. He Alone Is God - This up-tempo song is served up with an acoustic guitar and mandolin duet.

5. I Have a Dad - A solo piano/vocal presentation of this beautiful hymn.

6. Rain - A toe-tapping Americana setting of this song about the Holy Spirit that is sure to engage the body as well as the heart.

7. I'll Never Forsake You - An acoustic rock arrangement of our popular song

8. Come Down - In stark contrast to Ralph Vaugn Williams' traditional choral setting, this song puts a blues twist on the historic text "Come Down, O Love Divine"

9. Uncondemned - A strong acoustic guitar driven presentation of this conversion story song.

10. Wave Upon Wave - Another acoustic guitar and mandolin duet from David and Jake.

11. When Sorrow Comes - A haunting ballad about the sovereignty of God and suffering.

12. Where Is Room - This celtic melody is presented by two acoustic guitars and piano.

13. Complete in Thee - A stand-out track for its' laid back feel (almost like you caught a back-porch session) which attempts to capture the freedom of the lyrics in a bluegrassy setting.

14. For the Sake of His Name - This song is served up with just acoustic guitar and a couple of vocals, but manages to communicate the passion and grandeur of the lyrics despite its' sparse line-up.

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Does Suffering Go Unnoticed?

“Does suffering go unnoticed? If it does not—and indeed the one doing the noticing is the true, omnipotent, and loving covenant God—his people can properly surmise that their suffering may well be part of a plan, that it is a suffering with a distinct beginning and end, a hardship understood by and watched over by a sovereign who will not let it continue without good purpose and result.”

~ Douglas Stuart, Exodus

Spurgeon: "From your affliction this glory shall spring, and the deeper your sorrow the louder you'll sing."

"When your faith endures many conflicts, and your spirit sinks low, do not condemn yourself. There is a reason for your season of heaviness. Great soldiers are not made without war. Skillful sailors are not trained on the shore. It appears that if you are to become a great believer, you will be greatly tested. If you are to be a great help to others, you must pass through their trials. If you are to be instructed in the things of the kingdom, you must learn from experience. The uncut diamond has little brilliance, and the unthreshed corn feeds no one, and the untried believer is of little use or beauty. There are GREAT BENEFITS to come from your trials and depression. The one who is much plowed and often harrowed will thank God if the result is a larger harvest to the praise and glory of God by Jesus Christ. If your face is now covered with sorrow, the time will come when you will bless God for that sorrow. The day will come when you will see great gain from your losses, your crosses, your troubles and your affliction. From your affliction this glory shall spring, and the deeper your sorrow the louder you’ll sing."

– Charles Spurgeon, “Beside Still Waters”

God Breaks Us To Feed Many

"If my life is broken when given to Jesus,

it is because pieces will feed a multitude,

while a loaf will satisfy only a little lad."

~ Ruth Stull as quoted in Passion and Purity, by Elisabeth Elliot

New Tune for "The Fury of the Wind"

Jeff Bourque at Reformed Praise has written a new tune to my text "The Fury of the Wind." I wrote this text after spending time in Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina. I think Jeff's tune has captured the feel of the text wonderfully.

You can find the text, a recording and a lead sheet here.

New Song: When Sorrow Comes

Another new collaboration is up at Reformed Praise. This time it is a text I wrote years ago, to a new, haunting tune by David -- When Sorrow Comes.

Free piano score, lead sheet and recording here.

Spurg on Suffering & a Hymn

Steve McCoy posts some good quotes from Spurgeon on suffering.

I posted here a hymn text based on these and other Spurgeon quotes.

Hymn Text: A Sweet and Pleasant Providence

We're having a brother from The Voice of the Martyrs speak on the persecuted church during our evening service this Sunday. While planning for that service, I was looking through some hymns on suffering and came across this text that I wrote several years ago.

The tune is "Carol," to which we typically sing the Christmas song "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (click the link to hear an audio sample of the tune). The text is based upon the book of Ruth.

A Sweet and Pleasant Providence

Events that seem unfortunate
May often line the way
That God has paved to guide his saints
To bright and happy days.
Naomi's dismal hopelessness
Was shown to be untrue.
Remember this the next time God
Deals bitterly with you.

In faith let your heart learn to trust
That 'round the corner lies
A sweet and pleasant providence
Designed through sov'reign eyes.
Like Ruth, take refuge in the Lord
And rest beneath His wings,
You do not know what God intends
Nor what his kindness brings.

The cloud is black before it breaks
And dark before it yields
A flood of kindness over you
To bloom your barren field.
So turn your eyes upon the One
That ev'ry good flows from,
For in his great redemptive plan
The best is yet to come!

Tune: Carol
Text: (c) Eric M Schumacher
Permission granted to reprint unaltered text in temporary, nonsalable worship media. For other uses, please contact the author.

The 500-Year Flood and the Sovereignty of God

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached July 6, 2008 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio will be available here.

July 4 is the day that our nation has set aside to observe as “Independence Day,” commemorating July 4, 1776, the day on which the United States of America publicized their declaration of independence from Great Brittan.

While we may be able to declare independence from the sovereignty of England, we do well to remember that we at no time live independent of the sovereignty of God.

Can God be God and Good?
Unfortunately, some believe that there are events—like historic flooding in eastern Iowa—that happen independent of God’s sovereignty.

On the website of Yale Divinity School there is posted the manuscript of a sermon delivered by one of its alumni at a church in northeast Iowa on the Sunday following the flood. In this sermon, which contains two humorous stories but not a single verse of Scripture, this pastor notes that such disasters cause people to ask theological questions, such as, “Where is God in all this weather related devastation and heart ache? Did God cause this terrible weather? Why didn’t God stop the rains after just a little flooding?”

He mentions that a friend and parishioner of his commented, “And I’ve been praying to God that He will stop all this…that He will stop the suffering.” He notes that her comment “ASSUMES that God is all-powerful…that God is omnipotent. And her statement also assumes that God is focused primarily on the good for me and for you, and more generally, that God is focused on the good for humankind.”

He recalls taking a youth group to see the play J.B. by Archibald McLeish, a contemporary interpretation of the book of Job. In it, one of the narrators speaks this little poem:

If God is God, He is not good,
If God is good, He is not God;
Take the even, take the odd…

This poem presents a dilemma, a dichotomy of sorts. Either God is “all-powerful” and not good. Or, he is good but not all-power (not God). The author of the sermon concurs, stating, “with all the evidence from history and from recent storms in Iowa, it is logically inconsistent to believe that god is both all powerful and willing the good for you and me.”

Therefore, he told his congregation, “Personally, I have chosen to TAKE THE ODD. That is, after lots and lots of thinking about this matter, I have chosen to believe that God is good, AND that God has chosen NOT TO BE ALL POWERFUL…” (emphasis his).

He explains further:

I believe that God the Creator created the natural order, which includes the earth’s weather system, with certain natural laws and principles in place… God put in place reasonable natural laws and understandable scientific principles that govern the world. And after putting this natural order into place, God has (mostly) chosen NOT to intervene in these natural systems.

…I believe that God chose to set aside His power after he created the natural order, with its various laws and principles, and in essence, decided to let the system “run” as He had planned and designed it.

In other words, God is not sovereign over 500-year floods. He does not directly send them. They are merely the outworking of the natural laws and principles of the natural order that God put into place at creation.

In summary, in order to preserve the goodness of God, his sovereignty must be sacrificed. He cannot be all-powerful and all-good simultaneously.

He goes on to say that we find God, not in the storm, but in the response of people helping people.

Such sermons make me incredibly sad for two reasons. First of all, they sadden me because they assault the character of God presented in the Bible. The God we find in the Bible is not a self-neutered God. He is a sovereign, strong, providentially ruling God, who reigns over everything with all power. And, he is good. He is altogether righteous and just and none can question what he ordains or accuse him of evil. To say that God cannot be who God says he is is incredibly demeaning to God. To say that he can only be spoken of in ways that are easily comprehendible by our finite logic is incredibly arrogant.

Second, such sermons sadden me because they give congregations no reason to hope in God. He has essentially told his friend and parishioner that her prayers are useless. God cannot and will not intervene to stop the flooding. He has stripped his congregation of any source of comfort, other than what they can muster in the strength of their own response.

I would rather have this flood become a weekly event than such sermons become weekly events. Such sermons are the greater of the two tragedies. Such sermons will do far more damage to people than a flood ever could.

The consistent teaching of Scripture is both “the even and the odd”—God is good and God is God.

The Lord Reigns
Psalm 93 begins with the clear declaration: “the Lord reigns.” The Lord is robed in majesty; he has put on strength as his belt.

The kings of earth robe themselves with emblems of majesty and symbols of strength. But, as Spurgeon noted, the Lord is robed with the reality of sovereignty. He is robed with majesty itself.

We do not find in Scripture a picture of a God who sets aside his strength. Rather, the Lord puts on strength as a belt. He does not limit his strength, but dresses with it.

This vision of the Lord’s sovereignty is a vision consistently presented throughout Scripture. The Lord not only reigns, the Lord reigns with complete power. Psalm 115:3 declares, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”

Jeremiah (32:17) states, “Ah, Lord GOD! It is you who has made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.” And the Lord himself states (Jeremiah 32:27), “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?”

The Lord reigns without frustration. Job confesses (Job 42:2), “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Not only is he capable of doing his purposes, but he actually does them. In Daniel 4:35, we read that “he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand.” As Proverbs 21:30 affirms, “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.”

Sovereign over all creation
Psalm 93 continues, “Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.” The permanency of the world is based upon the sovereign strength of the Lord.

The Bible also clearly affirms that, unlike what was stated in that aforementioned sermon, the Lord did not choose “to set aside His power after He created the natural order.” God has not chosen “not to be all powerful.” Rather, the Lord is sovereign over the world and all that is in it.

The Lord reigns over everything that comes to pass. God’s will is the final and most ultimate reason for everything that happens. Jeremiah asks rhetorically (Lamentations 3:37), “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?” And Paul speaks of God in Ephesians 1:11 as “him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Everything—not just some things, “good things”—are worked according to the counsel of his will.

The Lord reigns over the physical, created universe. He not only created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1; Rev 4:11) and all that is in them, but he preserves all of them (Neh 9:6). Hebrews 1:3 states that the Lord Jesus Christ “upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Indeed, in Christ “all things hold together” (Col 1:17).

The Lord reigns over the heavenly bodies (Job 38:12-13,31-33; Psalm 104:19-20) and over the foundations of the earth. He says in Isaiah 48:13, “My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.”

Psalm 104:32 says that it is the Lord “who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke!” In Psalm 104:5, the Psalmist declares, “He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.” And in Psalm 75:3, the Lord says, “When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants, it is I who keep steady its pillars.” Therefore, when earthquakes shake the earth, the Lord is sovereign over them. He set the earth on its foundations. He steadies its pillars. Therefore, an earthquake may last not one second longer nor end one second shorter than he decrees it will.

Sovereign over life in creation.
The Lord does not reign merely over inanimate creation, such as planets and stars. He reigns over ever living thing upon the earth.

The Lord reigns over plant life. Psalm 147:8 says that “he makes grass grow on the hills.” And Psalm 104:14-15 states, “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart.”

If the Lord causes the grass and plants to grow—and if none can stay his hand when he purposes to do something—then he is sovereign over famine. If he wanted plants to grow, they would.

The Lord reigns over the creatures of the earth. (cf Ezek 14:21; Ps 104:25-29; 147:9; Mt 6:25, 10:29). Job 38-39 and Psalm 104:25-29 affirm God’s sovereignty over the ways of animals. It is the Lord who has “let the wild donkey go free.” The Lord makes the ostrich “forget wisdom” and has “given her no share in understanding.” The Lord gives the horse his might and clothes his neck with a mane. He makes him leap like the locust. It is by the Lord’s understanding that “the hawk soars and spreads his wings.” It is at the Lord’s command that “the eagle mounts up and makes his nest on high.”

Sovereign over man.
It is not just animal life that the Lord reigns over. He sovereignly reigns over the people who inhabit the earth.

The Lord reigns over the affairs of nations. The Lord created all nations. Paul states in Acts 17:26 that the Lord “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”

Psalm 22:28 states, “kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.” We read in Job 12:23-24 that the Lord “makes nations great, and he destroys them; he enlarges nations, and leads them away. He takes away understanding from the chiefs of the people of the earth and makes them wander in a pathless waste.”

The Lord reigns over nations and their sovereigns. Scripture tells us that the Lord appoints all authorities. Daniel 4:32 says that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” And Paul affirms in Romans 13:1 that “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

Not only does the Lord give authorities their positions, the Lord rules their hearts. Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.” This means that from Pharaoh to Cyrus, from Ceasar to Constantine, from Hitler to Churchill, from Gorbachev to Reagan, the Lord holds the heart of each of these in his hand and turns it wherever he wills.

We see the Lord reign over Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21) who oppresses Israel and over Cyrus who blesses Israel (Ezra 1:1; cf 6:22).

The Lord reigns over all people. Paul states in Acts 17:28 that “'in him we live and move and have our being.” No life exists outside the hand of God. It is the Lord, Psalm 33:13-15 says, who “fashions the hearts of them all.” Rather, as Job 34:14-15 states, “If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.”

The Lord reigns over all aspects of our lives. He reigns over our…

…food and sustenance. Therefore we are taught to pray (Matthew 6:11), “Give us this day our daily bread”

…our days. Job (14:5) says to the Lord of man, “his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.” Therefore, as James (4:15) reminds us that we “ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that’” (cf 1 Cor 4:19). The Lord, says Psalm 139:16, writes in his book all our days before there are any of them. It is before birth that the Lord sets apart his servants (Gal 1:15; Jer 1:5).

…all our actions. Though we think and decide and make plans and take steps, the Scripture speaks of God’s sovereignty over all that we do:

Jeremiah 10:23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Proverbs 20:24 A man's steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?
Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.
Proverbs 16:1 The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.

…success and failure. Psalm 75:6-7 reminds us that it is “not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” One is put down and the other lifted up, not because of their strength, but it is the Lord who Mary says in Luke 1:51-53 “has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.”

And should we think success is due to our abilities, we are reminded that the Lord reigns over talents and abilities. Skill may play a role in winning a battle, but as Psalm 18:34 affirms, the Lord “trains my hands for war, so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.” Therefore Paul asks in 1 Corinthians 4:7, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

…seemingly ‘random’ or ‘chance’ events. As Proverbs 16:33 teaches, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”

...the regeneration of the hearts of his believing people and the hardening of the hearts of those who reject him. Isaiah (63:17) asks, “O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not?”

Jesus praises the Father in Matthew 11:25-26 for hiding the Gospel from some and revealing it to others:

At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

The Apostle Paul teaches that:

Romans 9:16-18 …it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Eternal Reign
Psalm 93 continues,, “Your throne is established from of old; you are from everlasting.” That is, the Lord’s sovereign reign is nothing new. He has always reigned. The Lord reigns eternally. No matter how long or powerfully a ruler has reigned on earth, it is nothing compared to the sovereignty of God. His people should take comfort to dwell under such a throne.

Chaos?
Nevertheless, there are times when the inhabitants of the earth might wonder whether the Lord is reigning. There are forces and persons that appear to defy his reign.

The Psalmist raises one such example in verse 3: “The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their roaring.”

Some have interpreted this verse to be the psalmist’s way of referring to the enemies of God and his people. We will consider, in a moment, the sovereignty of God over the actions of our enemies who seek to do us harm. For the moment, however, let us take these words at face value.

When floods rage, when the powerful waters of the earth wreak havoc and destruction, is God sovereign over this? Or, has God “chosen not to be all powerful,” as some would have us believe.

The Psalmist gives his answer in verse 4—and his answer is not, “the Lord on high has chosen not to be all powerful!” Rather, he declares the sovereignty of God over the flood waters: “Mightier than the thunders of many waters, mightier than the waves of the sea, the LORD on high is mighty!”

The Lord reigns over the waters of the earth. The Lord reigns over the rain. Job 37:6 states, “For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.” When there is a record-setting snowfall or a mighty downpour resulting in record-setting floodwaters, it is because the Lord has said to the precipitation, “Fall on the earth” and it obeys.

In Job 38:34-38 the Lord asks Job, “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you? … Or who can tilt the waterskins of the heavens, when the dust runs into a mass and the clods stick fast together?” The implication is “the Lord can!” The Lord makes floods cover us. The Lord can tilt the waterskins of the heavens. (And, he can keep them from tilting and cause a draught.) (cf. Ps 135:6-7; 104:10-11; 147:18)

We see God’s sovereignty over water throughout the Bible. In Genesis 6-7, it is the Lord who sent rain for forty days and forty nights, bringing a flood to destroy all flesh under heaven.

It is the Lord in Exodus 14 who causes a strong east wind to blow, driving back the sea so that the people of Israel could pass through on dry ground.

It is the Lord in Joshua 3 who causes the waters of the Jordan River to stand in a heap, so that his people could walk across on dry ground.

It is the Lord in Matthew 14:25-29 who walks on the sea.

It is the Lord in Mark 4:37-41 who “rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

The Lord tipped the waterskins of the heavens on eastern Iowa so that the rain he wanted to fall fell, no more and no less. He speaks to the clouds so that floods cover us.

All it would have taken was one word from the Lord and the Cedar River would have stood in a heap at the border of Cedar Rapids. All it would have taken was one word from the Lord and the waters would have dried up.

The Lord reigns over the clouds and the wind. Job 37:9-13 states that:

by the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast. He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning. They turn around and around by his guidance, to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world. Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen.

The clouds—such as we see in hurricanes and tornadoes—“turn around and around by his guidance.” He guides them—in New Orleans and Parkersburg—“to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.”

Whether God sends these clouds to correct us or because of his love for us, “he causes it to happen.” There is no arguing with such a text. It is clear that God has not chosen “not to be all powerful.”

Later, in Job 38:22-38 we read that God is sovereign over snow, hail, lightning, wind, torrents of rain, thunder, ice, and frost. Psalm 148:8 says that the “fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind [are] fulfilling his word!”

Sovereign over suffering and evil.
Of course, the difficulty is not in thinking of God reigning sovereignly over the weather. The difficulty is in the suffering, destruction, and even death that results from these things.

Nevertheless, the Bible tells us that the Lord reigns over suffering and evil. Listen to a few verses that affirm this:

Amos 3:6 Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?
Isaiah 45:7 I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.
Lamentations 3:37-38 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
Job 2:10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
Job 42:11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him.

And, of course, we should remember that the Scripture states that the most evil sin that was ever committed happened according to “the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” That sin, of course, is the crucifixion of the perfect, sinless, anointed King, our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Acts 2:23, we read that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” And then, “crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” The men who did it were “lawless.” That is, they were sinning. Nevertheless, as we read in Acts 4:27-28 were only doing “whatever [God’s] hand and [God’s] plan had predestined to take place.”

The Lord reigns over the suffering of his people. 1 Peter 3:17 and 4:19 both speak of our suffering as being according to “God’s will.”

Likewise, the Lord reigns over those who afflict us. In the Old Testament, we see that the Assyrians (Isa 10:5) and Nebuchadnezzar (Jer 25:9) were the Lord’s instruments to discipline his people. The Lord intended the suffering of Joseph at the hands of his brothers for good (Gen 50:20). Even though they sold him into slavery (Gen 37:11-28), Joseph may still say that it was God who sent him to Egypt (Gen 45:5).

The Lord said—before Pharaoh ever hardened his own heart—that he would “harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go” (Ex 4:21). Psalm 105:25 says that the Lord turned the hearts of the Egyptians “to hate his people, to deal craftily with his servants.”

Joshua 11:20 says that the Lord hardened the hearts of the Canaanites so that they should come against Israel in battle.

1 Kings 11:14 says that the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon.

Sovereign over Satan and demons.
The Scripture goes even further to affirm that the Lord reigns over Satan and evil spirits. 1 Samuel 16:14 says that “an evil spirit from the Lord tormented [Saul].” Judges 9:23 says that “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem.”

1 Chronicles 21:1 says that “Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.” Yet, 2 Samuel 24:1 says that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and [the Lord] incited David” to number Israel. (And later, David confesses this as his sin and is disciplined by God for it.)

The Story of Job
The story of Job is a perfect example for discussing all these things, for in it, Satan seeks to afflict Job. Therefore, we are left to assume that whatever happens, happens through the hand of Satan. Job is afflicted by evil men who come murder his servants, by destructive weather that kills all his children and by a severe physical disease that threatens to take his life. So here we have Satan orchestrating these events. We have men sinning in their murdering and plundering. We have destructive forces of nature and disease.

And yet, after all this, Job says first (Job 1:20-22), “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” After which we read, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” (In other words, Job was right to attribute this to the Lord!) And then later Job says (2:10), “Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” After which we read, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” In other words, it was not sinful for Job to say that he was receiving “evil” from the Lord!

Therefore, whether it is Satan, sinful men, the forces of nature or disease, the Lord is sovereign reigning.

Comfort
So where do we find comfort when suffering comes, when the “floods have lifted up their voice”? The Psalmist continues, “Your decrees are very trustworthy.” His “decrees” could also be translated, his “testimonies.”

That is, what the Lord has stated in his word can be trusted in. What he has promised us will come to pass. We find our comfort not in our ability to interpret acts of divine providence, but in the trustworthy promises of God’s word.

The Lord has told us that he is good. (cf Lk 18:19; Ps 100:5; 106:1; 34:8) Therefore, we can trust that God is doing what is “worthy of approval” (which is what it means to be good).

The Lord promises good to his people. Paul draws great comfort from God’s sovereignty:

Romans 8:28-32 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

The sovereignty that reigns over our afflictions also reigns over our salvation. If you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and was raised from the dead, then you believe that God has done the greatest thing possible for you. He has paid for your sins, forgiven you, and reconciled you to himself. If he has done this, then you can trust that he must work everything else for your good as well.

How should we respond?
How should we respond to such sovereignty? How should we respond when the floods lift up their voices? I think that the Psalmist answers this question as well at the end of verse 5: “holiness befits your house, O LORD, forevermore.”

What is fitting for the dwelling place of such a sovereign is “holiness.” We should respond with holiness.

First of all, this includes repentance of sin.

Lamentations 3:37-40 Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD!

All disaster—whether directly related to our personal sins or not—should remind us that we deserve the wrath of God. It should motivate us to consider our ways and return to the Lord!

And fleeing sin is only possible through faith in God. We leave sin because we trust that what God has said is right. We trust that God—and not sin—with satisfy us with what is good and give us life.

Peter wrote to the suffering church in 1 Peter 4:19, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” The way that you do good while suffering is you entrust your soul to a faithful Creator. You believe that God has promised to forgive, redeem, resurrect and give eternal life to the one who trusts in Jesus Christ his Son. You believe that Jesus Christ removed your sin in his death and secures for your eternal life through his resurrection.

Therefore, you say with Habakkuk in suffering,

Habakkuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

If God is sovereign, and only if God is sovereign, then I may sing, “It is well with my soul.”

Real Freedom in Jesus

Go read "Real Freedom in Jesus" now. May the Lord give us all such churches in our times of need.

The 500-Year Flood and the Response of the Christian

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached June 29, 2008 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio available here.

My senior year in college, I took a required course in ethics for which we were required to write a major paper. I chose to defend this thesis: “Atheists cannot be consistently moral.” I argued that atheism provides no basis from which to distinguish good from evil. Therefore, while atheists may act morally, since there truly are morals, they may not do so in a way consistent with their worldview. They may not claim that one thing is good and another evil and be consistent with their foundational understanding of reality.

Atheists and 500-Year Floods

I thought about atheism’s inability to provide a foundation for good and evil as we were doing disaster relief work a few weeks ago at a member family’s home. Their neighbor expressed his thanks for the work that members of our church and the Texas Baptist disaster relief workers were doing. He commented to someone though, “I’m an atheist, and I always will be.”

Though I was not able to speak with him about the issue, a few responses came to my mind when I heard of his profession of atheism. If I could sit down with him to talk, I would politely ask him questions about his view of disaster, such as the flood and the tornado in Parkersburg. I would ask if he thought the destruction of property and the loss of life were good or bad. I would ask if he thought the response of disaster relief workers were good or bad.

I imagine that he, like most people would say that the loss of life was a bad thing and that the response of disaster relief workers helping those in need was good. Then, I would ask him, “Why? Why is the loss of life bad? Given your atheistic view of the universe, why is it a bad thing that people die? Why is it good for people to help those in need?” “Because it is” is not an acceptable answer.

The first response that came to mind, which I would not have used given the circumstances, was, “Would you like these Christian organizations to go ahead and help with cleanup, or would you prefer to wait for the Atheism Disaster Relief crews to arrive?”

Now, I am positive that there are many atheists who help with disaster relief in Cedar Rapids and around the world. There certainly are non-religious organizations who help when disasters strike, such as the Iowa National Guard. Nevertheless, my point is that we would do well to notice that the bulk of disaster relief responses, locally and globally, have historically come from organizations that have a Christian foundation—such as the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Samaritan’s Purse, WorldVision, and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, to name a few of the larger organizations. Most hospitals were founded by and bear the names of Christian movements. (In Cedar Rapids, we have “St. Luke’s” and “Mercy” Hospital, the latter founded by the Sisters of Mercy.)

We have not historically seen “Atheist Disaster Relief” or “Evolutionist Disaster Relief” organizations. Why is that?

I would argue that the way you respond to a disaster is determined by your overarching view of reality. A consistent atheist, especially one who holds to evolutionary theory, simply does not have a consistent and compelling foundation from which to promote compassion to those in suffering.

On Worldviews and Responses

Two weeks ago, as the historic floodwaters were beginning to recede from our downtown, we examined how to think about floods (and other natural disasters) from within the storyline of the Bible. That is, we interpreted a 500-year flood, the Flood of 2008, from a Christian worldview.

A worldview is comprehensive conception of the world from a specific standpoint. It is the set of beliefs from which you understand and interpret reality. Your worldview informs how you interpret such things as floods, tornadoes and earthquakes. If you are consistent, your worldview will affect and direct how you act, speak and think. It will affect whether you consider such flooding a “disaster” and how you ought to respond.

The way you act when disaster strikes (and when things are “normal”) either contradicts or flows from your worldview.

Atheistic Evolutionists

How should a consistent atheistic evolutionist interpret and respond to a flood, tornado or other “disaster”? Disaster for an atheistic evolutionist is simply what has always been happening for billions of years in a naturally chaotic universe. In fact, it is through chaos that life originated. Chaos is neither bad nor good, it simply is—and so is the suffering that comes with it.

Furthermore, within evolution, it is through a process of natural selection, through the survival of the fittest that life evolves. The weak and unadapted of a species, which are unsuited for life in this world, are killed off. Those that have proper adaptations are strong enough to survive. Through this process of natural selection and the survival of the fittest, species are thought to evolve and new species originate.

Therefore, a flood that destroys a part of a city or tsunami that kill a quarter million people in southeast Asia is not evil or bad. Rather, such things are part of the process of evolution of higher forms of life. Those that suffer and die in such events are “the weak.” They evidently are not fit to live in this world. The elimination of such people in Parkersburg or New Orleans or southeast Asia is merely the world’s way of eliminating the weak so that stronger, more adapted versions of the human species may evolve.

And what should we think of disaster relief? A consistent evolutionist might want to argue against it. If one assumes that higher life forms are good (and of course, within atheism there is no basis for that—higher life forms are not good or evil; they simply are), then one might argue that helping those impacted by a disaster is actually working against the process of evolution and therefore hindering the progress of our species. If they cannot survive, then they should die so that the strong and adapted may produce offspring.

Atheistic evolutionary theory can make sense of a 500-year flood—it is chaos in a chaotic cosmos. It cannot, however, call our response good.

Christians

Christians, however, not only have an explanation for why there is disaster in our world, we have a worldview that can say such disaster is not good. We have a worldview that can call disaster relief good.

We looked a few weeks ago at an overview of the Christian worldview. What we saw was that God created man to rule, to fill the earth, subdue it and exercise dominion over its creatures. Man rebelled against God. In response, the Lord cursed the ground causing it to grow thorns and thistles so that man would eat bread by the sweat of his brow. In other words, the earth would be difficult to subdue and exercise dominion over because of sin.

In Jesus Christ, we find a second Adam, who succeeds where the first Adam failed. He lives under the rule of God perfectly and possesses the authority and power to subdue the earth and exercise dominion, as seen in his command of the wind and waves.

This Jesus Christ redeems his people from the curse by taking the curse upon himself when he was crucified for sins. We see that he has conquered sin, death and the devil in that he was raised from the dead in a glorious resurrection with an imperishable body.

He now reigns at the right hand of God in power and will one day return to raise and judge everyone. Those who did not live under his rule will be cast out of his presence, body and soul, into eternal destruction. Those who repented of their sins and trusted in him to save them will be, in their imperishable resurrection bodies, live and reign with him forever in a New Heavens and New Earth.

That is the storyline of history. We are moving from Creation to New Creation, from our fallen state to our resurrected state through the death, resurrection and reign of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This story, the history of redemption, is the worldview from which all Christians ought to operate. If you believe those things, then it will have an impact on how you think, speak and act.

Applying our Worldview

So, how do we apply our Christian worldview to a 500-year flood?

We respond by attempting to prevent and counter disaster and undo its effects because our worldview informs us that disaster is not good. We understand such destructive forces to be a result of the fall. We know that life is good and death is bad. We know that Jesus Christ suffered and died and rose again to redeem us from the curse and give us eternal life. Therefore, we imitate and glorify that truth in how we live—we seek to prevent and undo suffering and death as a picture of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.

We began applying this message last week. From 2 Corinthians 1, we looked at how Christians, operating from this understanding of history, are able offer comfort to those in any affliction. The ultimate comfort that can be offered to anyone in any affliction is the redemption and resurrection offered through Jesus Christ the Lord. Therefore, our primary response when disaster strikes is to preach the Gospel, proclaiming the good news of the arrival of the Kingdom of Christ and calling people to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.

So, last week we looked at responding through the preaching of the Gospel. This morning, I want to look specifically at how the Christian uses his worldly goods to provide relief to other Christians in suffering.

A Gospel Response

How does the Christian worldview move us to respond when fellow Christians suffer in disasters?

I want to point out again that what we are learning applies beyond the Flood of 2008. We are learning how to view and respond to any type of disaster and suffering, whether a 500-year flood or a five-day fever.

With that said, we must not forget that these things do have direct and immediate application within our congregation. We have two families directly and seriously impacted by the flood. And we, as their brothers and sisters in Christ, are called to respond.

The question is: How do Christians respond when fellow Christians are suffering? The answer is simply this: By imitating the Gospel.

The Gospel is that Jesus Christ saw his people, given to him by the Father, in need. He left his place of comfort, took their burden upon himself, and through his suffering secured for them a better standing than before they fell. He who was rich beyond all measure became poor so that we might fellow heirs with him, that we might share in what is his.

Simply put, for a Christian to imitate this, to act out of this worldview, when another Christian suffers means this: You see one of your own people (a brother or sister in Christ) in need. You leave your place of comfort, take their burden upon yourself, and through your own suffering attempt to secure for them a better standing than before they were afflicted. You take of your own riches and meet their needs, that they might share what is yours.

If you are a Christian, then you act like this when Christians suffer. If you do not act like this when your fellow Christians suffer, then you are not a Christian. Those are bold statements, but they are biblical. They come from 1 John 3:11-18.

Love One Another

In verse 11, John writes, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

He begins with the word “for” because he is defending his statement at the end of verse 10 that the one who does not love his brother (that is, fellow Christian) is not born of God but is born of the devil.

The reason that is so is that the message that Christians have heard from the beginning is that “we should love one another.” From the beginning means, from when they first heard the Gospel.

You will remember that for Jesus, the Great Commission was not to share four spiritual points and convince people to pray a prayer. The Great Commission was not about decisions, but disciples. Those who believed in him were to be baptized and then taught to obey everything that he had commanded.

One of the final commands that Jesus gave to his disciples was that they were to “love one another.” In John 13:34-35, Jesus told his disciples:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

The world would know who Jesus’ disciples were by the way that their “love for one another.” Notice that Jesus emphasized their love for “one another.” He was talking to his disciples, to his followers. Jesus is not talking about the way that we treat all people in general. He was speaking about the way we treat other Christians in particular. “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

I do not want to deemphasize the importance of doing good to all people in general. Nevertheless, we cannot fail to notice that there is a particular emphasis in the New Testament on the Christian’s obligation to care for other Christians.

In Matthew 25, when the Son of Man judges the people from all nations, he will examine how they treated “the least of these my brothers.” It is not their treatment of all people in general, but the treatment of his “brothers” (that is, of Christians) that Jesus will look at to know if we are of his people.

In 1 Timothy 5, Paul emphasizes that the widow who is to be in the care of the church is the widow who “has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day” and has a reputation for having been a committed Christian. Evidently, Paul did not obligate the church to care for widows who denied Christ in word or in deed.

And we find in Jesus' commands to his disciples in the gospel of John this emphasis on loving “one another,” fellow believers, as evidence to the world that they are indeed his disciples.

Love

Jesus’ standard of how one Christian should love another Christian is himself. “just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” And, he explains clearly in John 15:12-13 what it means to love like he does: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends."

Jesus laid down his life for his friends when they were in need. Therefore, Christians do the same for other believers. John will get very practical in what this looks like in a few verses. But first, he gives a negative command.

Not Like Cain and the World

In verse 12, John points us to the example of Cain, who in Genesis 4 attacked and murdered his brother Abel:

We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.

John identified him not only as the one who murdered his brother, but as the one “who was of the evil one.” John draws out in his letter that all of humanity falls into one of two families. Some are the “children of the devil,” like Cain, and others are the “children of God,” like Able who was righteous by faith.

In verse 13, John tells his readers, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.” That is what the children of the devil do. The devil hates God. Therefore, his children hate God’s children. What we should be surprised at are those who claim to be children of God and yet hate, mistreat and neglect those who are children of God. Such is unacceptable.

In fact, in verse 14, John states that the way we know that we have passed out of death into life is the fact that “we love the brothers.” We know this because “whoever does not love [the brothers] abides in death.”

John elaborates on that point in verse 15, “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” If you claim to be a Christian but hate your fellow Christian [your brother], you are a murderer. No one who murders has eternal life abiding in him.

Love = the Gospel

In verses 16-18, we get to the point I was making in answer to the question of how Christians respond when other Christians are suffering.

John explains in verse 16 what love is: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” Notice that John follows the command of Jesus. Jesus said that we (his disciples) were to love one another (that is, other disciples) in the same fashion that he loved us. So, John says that just as “he laid down his life for us,” “we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

Now, here is where application gets difficult. What does it mean for us to lay down our lives for the brother, just as he laid down his life for us? Is that possible?

After all, what does it mean that Jesus laid down his life for us? Earlier in the letter, John tells us. He writes in chapter 2, verse 2 that Jesus Christ is the “propitiation for our sins.” By propitiation, John means that Jesus takes upon himself our sin, suffering and dying under the wrath that we deserved, so that we are cleansed of our sin, God’s wrath is appeased, and we are forgiven and reconciled to God.

First of all, let me say that if you are not a Christian—this is what you need to hear first before you ever think of how Christians respond in disasters. The central message that you need to hear this morning is that you have a great need. God created you in his image and is deserving of your love and obedience. You, like all of us, have rebelled against him and kicked filth on his glory.

We, as sinners, deserve the wrath of God. Nevertheless, in the death of Jesus Christ, the sinless son of God, on the cross, propitiation was accomplished for sins. In fact, Jesus rose from the dead, emerging as a priest after offering a sacrifice to show that God had accepted the sacrifice and his wrath was satisfied. Those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ's death and resurrection alone have their sins forgiven, God’s wrath against them is removed, and they are adopted as children of God. In fact, such are born again as God’s children.

Your greatest need this morning is to hear this message, repent and trust in Christ alone as your only hope of salvation.

Notice that John defines love by the Gospel. What Christ has done for us with his life is a standard for how we should love our brothers in Christ.

Now, back to our question—what does it mean to lay down our lives for the brothers, just as Christ did for us? His death was unique. I cannot bear the sin of my brother and die for him. Christ has done that already. And, even so, I (unlike Christ) am a sinner who deserves to die for my own sin.

John does not mean that we die as a substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of other Christians. Rather, he means that we imitate the attitude and actions of Christ in that when we see a brother in need, as Christ saw us in need, and we are able to meet that need, we do.

Hear how John illustrates this in verse 17: “But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?”

John states, by way of a rhetorical question, that if you have “the world’s goods” (that is physical wealth) and you see your fellow Christian with a need that could be met by that wealth, and yet you “close your heart”—that is you choose not to use your goods to meet that need—then God’s love does not abide in you. John’s unwritten but obvious conclusion is—you are not born of God because you do not have his love. Therefore, you must be born of the devil.

That is what he will write explicitly in chapter 4, verses 7-12:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Therefore, John ends with this simple exhortation in verse 18: “Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” Christian love for fellow believers imitates the Gospel of Jesus Christ in that it does not simply wish suffering believers well but does what it can to accomplish good on their behalf. The way that Christians respond when needs arrive in the life of other Christians is they imitate Jesus Christ by doing all within their power to remove that suffering, even at great cost to themselves.

Illustrations

This is the way we see the church responding all throughout the New Testament. They were now, through Jesus Christ, one family. When one suffered, they all suffered with them.

Let me share two illustrations from Scripture. First, hear what Paul writes of the Macedonian Christians in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5:

We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

Paul was collecting money to care for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. When the Macedonian Christians heard of it, they begged earnestly “for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.” They themselves were in a “severe test of affliction”—they were suffering. And, they were in “extreme poverty”—they themselves were poor and had needs. Nevertheless, the begged to give to help other Christians.

More than hording wealth to meet their own needs, Christians love to give, even out of their poverty, if it means that they may reflect the Gospel of Jesus Christ through which they are saved.

Second, consider the example of the saints in Hebrews 10:32-39:

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.

In this situation, these Christians saw their brothers and sisters in Christ being thrown in jail. In those days, you were not provided clothing, blankets and food in prison. If your family did not provide them, you died.

These Christians became partners with mistreated, imprisoned Christians and had compassion on them. The result was that their property was plundered. Nevertheless, the accepted the loss of their earthly goods with “joy” we are told.

Why did they have joy when their earthly goods were lost for the sake of ministering to fellow believers in suffering? Because, the author of Hebrews writes, “you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.”

This is how the storyline of the Bible affects believers. This is how a Christian worldview causes Christians to act toward their brothers and sisters in the faith. When you know that this world is under a curse, that Jesus Christ has borne that curse on your behalf and redeemed you, that you have an inheritance with Christ in an eternal kingdom in a New Heavens and New Earth, and that this treasure is both better than this world and cannot ever end—then, you are happy to give up this world’s goods to minister to believers in need because what you value is certain.

Summary

When fellow believers suffer, true Christians rush to their aid, using their own goods and sacrificing their own comforts to meet the needs of their suffering brothers and sisters.

They do this because they must. It is their new nature, being conformed into the image of the one who died for them. They love, and they cannot do otherwise.

They count such sacrifice a “favor” because the grace of God has been poured out richly on them.

They do this because they believe the storyline of the Bible—which says that through Jesus Christ they have a better possession than anything this world offers, a possession that abides forever.

The atheist must believe that nothing comes after this life. Why should he sacrifice what he has for someone else. There is nothing to say it is good. There is nothing to gain and everything to lose. If they give what they have, all they have is gone and cannot be recovered.

When a Christian gives all he has in this world, he does not die in despair. For his treasure is in heaven, where it is safe and eternal.

Now, Northbrook Baptist Church, you have members in your congregation who are presently in need. And, we will undoubtedly have members in severe need in the future. Furthermore, you have a Savior who left the comforts of glory to live in poverty and die to pay your debt so that you could inherit eternal life in an imperishable kingdom. You believe that your possession and inheritance through Jesus Christ cannot perish but abides forever. You have the world’s goods and are able to join together to meet those needs, to pay those debts and in so doing display the glories of our Savior’s love to the world.

How will you respond? Will you display a worldview that declares this world is all there is, the fittest survive and I had best lookout for myself? Or will you declare to this world that this world is not your home and therefore you let go of the world’s good to meet the needs of others with the joy of knowing a better and abiding possession in Christ—and in so doing preach the Gospel to the world, showing them that you are the disciples of Jesus Christ?

The 500-Year Flood and the God of All Comfort

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached June 22, 2008 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Audio available here.

Three days this next week, I will be, Lord willing, in Iowa City working with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief “mud-out” crews. Mud-out crews, as you might have guessed, go into the homes of flood victims to clean the “mud out.” These crews like to take chaplains with them to minister spiritually to the victims, which is what I’ve been asked to do.

Such opportunities, while exciting, to be honest, scare me to death. Questions go through my mind, “What will I say? I’ve never been in their shoes. How can I expect to minister to them?”

I would expect that I’m not alone in feeling this way. Our city has experience one of, if not the, worst disasters it has ever experienced. Thousands have lost their homes and all their possessions. We, as the people of the Lord Jesus Christ, have the opportunity and obligation to minister to these hurting people. You probably feel ill-equipped and incapable of such ministry.

And it is not limited to this flood. This flood is just a large-scale example in the lives of thousands of what happens on a personal level to people every day. It is often easy to let things like the flood catch our attention because they are widespread and gain the focus of the media. We cannot afford to forget that people suffer every day.

We are called to minister to them. Nevertheless, it is good to let these large-scale disasters cause us to pause and consider how we minister to those who are suffering, regardless of what type of suffering it is.

Are We Equipped?

In the town where I previously pastored, I attended a meeting of community clergy hosted by the mayor to discuss the varying relief efforts going on for Hurricane Katrina. The idea had been put forward that it be a city where displaced persons could come to live and work.

As the discussion progressed, there was one particular pastor who found a reason why everything that was brought up wouldn’t work—“our community is not equipped with the counselors and training necessary to deal with the post-traumatic stress and great emotional grief that these people are going through. It would probably be best not to take them in.” Sometimes we offer similar excuses to avoid ministry, such as, “Well, I’ve never been through that before. I don’t know what it is like. There is no way that I can be of any comfort.”

There are at least two possible reasons why we offer excuses like these to free ourselves from serving those who are suffering. The first is that we are lazy, which is a form of greed. Far too often, greed marches under the banner of “stewardship.” We say, “It would not be best to invest my money, my time, my energies into this situation,” when we really simply want to keep that money, time and energy for ourselves.

Proverbs 26:13 tells us, “The sluggard says, ‘There is a lion in the road! There is a lion in the streets!’” In other words, the sluggard uses (or creates) legitimate sounding reasons for not working in order to serve his own selfish ends. “There is a lion in the street! I dare not go outside to work, or I’ll be devoured to!” “If you give money to hunger-relief, the government or those people will simply mismanage it.” “If I help them, I won’t have anything left over for myself.” “I can’t share the Gospel with them; people in their situation are not interested in it!” “I can’t help them because I’ve never experienced what they are going through.” Sometimes we use these excuses to prop up our laziness and avoid doing the hard work that must be done.

The second reason that we use these excuses is because we genuinely believe them. We genuinely believe that we are not able to offer comfort to someone unless we have “walked a mile in their shoes.” We believe that we cannot minister to a flood victim unless we are government-certified counselors with university degrees who specialize in post-traumatic counseling.

I do not want to underestimate the extreme stress and grief that people go through when they lose everything to something like a flood. Nor do I want to underestimate the good that shared experiences can offer. After all, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). His ability to sympathize is a source of confidence to draw near to him in time of need.

Nevertheless, I want us to see from the Scripture that we who are Christians are equipped to offer comfort to those who are suffering, no matter what form their particular suffering may take.

God & Comfort

Paul begins by praising “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He describes God as “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.” This is significant because, outside the Bible, the gods of the ancient world were not merciful and comforting. “Comfort was not regarded as a divine function, and no pagan deity was associated with it. Indeed, the biblical concept of a God who comforts was otherwise virtually unknown in the ancient world” (Brewer, “Comfort,” emphasis mine).

The God of the Bible is the source of all comfort. The God of Christianity (the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ) is a God of mercy and comfort. That is not all that he is; we can never afford to forget that his mercy is not blind and that he is a God of justice. He is more than mercy, but he is not less.

In the Old Testament, God is a God of comfort. In the Psalms, the Lord is praised for the comfort that he gives his people. Psalm 86:17 declares, “...you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.” Psalm 23:4 says, “your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” In Psalm 71:20-21: “You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.” In Psalm 94:19: “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”

In the prophets, especially Isaiah, the gospel is that the Lord will come and comfort them. Isaiah 40 begins, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” The chapter then proceeds to assure Judah that the God who measured the waters of the earth and marked the span of the heavens (40:12-14), who counts the nations as “less than nothing and emptiness” (40:13-17), who knows all things from the beginning and reigns over the affairs of nations (40:21-24), and who calls each star by name (40:25-26)–this great Sovereign Creator is the one who comes in might to tenderly comfort them (10-11):

Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

This is precisely why we must not shy away from declaring the sovereignty of God when suffering comes. We must not be found saying, “Well, the God I know is a God of love and comfort. He isn’t sovereign over floods; he just brings good out of the aftermath.” For Isaiah, the strong sovereignty of God is the only sure foundation for hope and peace in the midst of suffering. Listen to the conclusion of Isaiah 40 as the prophet revels in the Lord’s might and what it means for his people (28-31):

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

The hope of God’s people is found in the ability of the Lord to comfort. If he is lacking, so are we. If he is not lacking, then neither are we. When we diminish his sovereignty, we not only diminish glory of God but the hope we have in the Gospel.

Who Comforts Us In All Our Affliction

What we can learn from the Old Testament is all true comfort is found only in the Lord who shows mercy. This is confirmed by what Paul says of the Lord. He says God is the God of “all comfort.” He does not say the God of “some comfort,” “a lot of comfort,” or even “most comfort.” Rather, he is the God of “all comfort.” Therefore, any comfort that comes outside of God is, in the end, not true comfort.

Of course, sin offers short, false, ultimately unfulfilling comforts. But, the comfort of sin only leads to death, greater discomfort. And even those things in our world that are not sinful cannot bring us comfort beyond the grave. If you are to find any true and lasting comfort, then you must find it in God. It is God “who comforts us in all our affliction.” Paul says, “we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Notice that Paul does not stop at saying that God is the “God of all comfort.” Again, Paul uses the word “all.” God does not provide comfort for “a few,” “some” or even “most” of our afflictions. Rather, God comforts us in “all our affliction.” There is no affliction that you now face or will face as a Christian that God will not ultimately comfort. God comforts us in all our affliction. This is why it is so crucial to see how strong the God of the Bible is. All our hope of comfort rests on his shoulders. If he fails, our comfort fails.

We Are Able to Comfort Those in Any Affliction

One of the results of being comforted by God is that we are “able to comfort those who are in any affliction.” Notice what this verse teaches. First, if you know the comfort of God, then you are able to comfort those in affliction. Second, if you know the comfort of God, then you are able to comfort those in any affliction.

It is not uncommon to hear or think, “if you have not endured a particular affliction, then you are not able to comfort those who are enduring it.” Sometimes, even suffering people will say, “Unless you’ve gone through what I’m experiencing, you cannot help me.”

Now, it may be true that we can better understand someone’s sufferings if we have experienced such things ourselves. But is it true that we are only able to offer comfort if we have endured the same sufferings? If that is true, then that is bad news for us. There will be times when we are called to comfort one another in afflictions that we have not endured.

My spouse has not left me. My parents did not sexually abuse me. I, to my knowledge, do not have Alzheimer’s or cancer. I’ll never have a hysterectomy. I’ve not been paralyzed in tragic accident. I’ve never lost a child. I’ve never lost my house, possession and family members to a flood. Yet, as a pastor and Christian, I will be called upon to comfort those in each of these situations. Am I able? I believe that this passage answers these question with a resounding “Yes!”

Verse 4 says that God comforts us in all our afflictions with the result that we are able to comfort those in any affliction. Notice what Paul said and did not say. He did not say, “God comforts us in all our afflictions, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in similar afflictions.” No, he said, “...so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.”

Shared experiences may help us to know how someone else feels, but shared experiences are not our ultimate hope. Shared experiences do not cure Lou Gehrig’s disease. Shared experiences do not remove the memories of abuse. Shared experiences do not heal a severed spinal cord. Shared experiences do not raise children from the dead. Ultimately, our comfort must come from somewhere other than sympathetic people with similar experiences. Our comfort must be able to cure sickness, restore the soul, heal the body and raise the dead.

So What Do We Offer?

So how is it that I am able to comfort those in any affliction? What do I offer them that will ultimately comfort them? Paul gives us the answer: “we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” The comfort that God has given us in all our afflictions is the same comfort we give to others for all their afflictions.

What is that comfort?

What is this comfort? The comfort we offer is the comfort of the Gospel. The Gospel, as Paul taught it in 1 Corinthians 15, is this. Jesus Christ died for sins and was raised from the dead with an imperishable body. We all are sinners who have rebelled against the God who created us. We deserve death, eternal conscious torment in hell. Yet, God in his mercy sent his Son Jesus Christ to become man and to live a perfect life.

Jesus Christ, not deserving of death, died on the cross “for sins.” He bore the penalty of sin for others. Having satisfied God’s demands, he rose from the dead on the third day with an imperishable, glorious body.

Those who repent of their sins and trust in Jesus Christ are forgiven by God. God sees them as though they have died to sin through the death of Jesus Christ. And, just as they have died with Christ in his crucifixion, they shall be raised with Christ in a resurrection like his, to live with him forever.

Paul outlines this for us in verse 5. “For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.”

What does Paul mean when he says, “we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings?” The answer is found in Romans 8:29, “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” God is conforming us to the image of his Son, Jesus Christ. To be made like him involves following in his steps. Jesus lived a life of suffering. However, he lived a life of suffering with faith that showed the power of God in the midst of suffering.

We as Christians are to live the same sort of life:

Philippians 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Our Union With Christ

Paul sees a unity between Jesus and the Christian. That means, to a certain extent, what is true of Christ is true of us. If he suffered abundantly, we will suffer abundantly.

These sufferings will come in various forms. In some places, Paul lists things like “famine,” which is a so-called “natural disaster,” and “weaknesses” which could include physical ailments and disease. So, when we think of suffering abundantly, I do not want us to think only of being persecuted for our Christian faith. Suffering as a Christian can include everything from hunger, poverty, handicaps, diseases, accidents, hurricanes. Each of these threatens faith. Each of these calls for faith in God and a willingness to trust him no matter how painful life is. Some will suffer at the hands of an angry mob seeking to kill them. Some will suffer from degenerative diseases that slowly destroy their bodies. Some will suffer small but constant afflictions each day of their life. The question is, are these afflictions suffered “with Christ”—do we use them as an opportunity to curse God and sin or to turn to him as our sovereign refuge in the face of trouble?

Comfort

What does Paul mean when he says, “we share abundantly in comfort too?” Because of Christ’s obedience in abundant suffering, God gave him abundant comfort. What comfort is this?

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus’ sufferings were rewarded with the comfort of an eternal resurrection and exaltation in glory.

If God comforted Christ abundantly, then he will comfort us abundantly. Listen to Paul as he describes the result of being joined with Christ:

2 Timothy 2:11-12 If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him…

Romans 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

Notice that these are all future-looking promises and comforts:

Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

1 Peter 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, as was necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

When Paul thinks of suffering, it is something that he embraces because he knows that suffering with Christ leads to glorious comfort with Christ.

Philippians 3:8-11 I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul sees a connection between becoming like Christ in his death and becoming like him in his resurrection.

We do receive the comfort of God’s promises now. We do receive the down payment of the Holy Spirit to comfort us now. We do go to heaven when we die. But, it is not just a peace in this world or even “heaven” that Paul is concerned about, but a “resurrection.” We know that when Christ returns, we will be raised like him to dwell with him—not just in a spiritual realm—but in a new heavens and new earth, which is free from floods and all other forms of suffering. We will have raised bodies free from every affliction and pain. We will have the fullness of the abundant life that Christ said he came to bring.

So how does this translate to offering comfort to those in any affliction? It means that we do not need to know what it is like to go through a flood (or cancer or abuse) in order to comfort those who have. We only need to know the Gospel of a Messiah who has been crucified for sins, who has been raised from the dead, and who will grant an eternal, imperishable resurrection to those who come to Him in repentance and faith.

The Gospel has the power in itself to apply to every suffering. There is no pain, no suffering, no affliction that the Gospel cannot address and cure. The entire cure will not come immediately. That comes with the return of Christ—even those in heaven are waiting for that! Nevertheless, we can give suffering people the promise that if they will leave their sin and trust in Jesus Christ, even in the midst of their suffering, they can have the assurance of a future resurrection in a new pain-free world with a God who will wipe every tear from their eye. If you know Christ, then you are able to comfort those in any affliction.

And so, I would encourage you to stop making excuses, to overcome your fears and laziness and greed, and to go comfort those in any affliction with the comfort that we have been comforted with by God.

ICC Releases 2007-08 "Hall of Shame" for Persecutors of Christians

International Christian Concern has released its 2007-2008 "Hall of Shame," listing the World's 10 Worst Persecutors of Christians. They are:

• North Korea
• Iraq
• Saudi Arabia
• China
• Pakistan
• Eritrea
• Egypt
• India
• Laos
• Indonesia

Each countries profile includes color photos, statistics, information, and ways that you can help.

Must Read Testimony from Union University Tornado Survivor

God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform

He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm.

~ William Cowper

Baptist Press has published a must-read testimony from a student who was crushed beneath rubble following the destructive February 5 tornadoes. It is an amazing testimony of God's presence in the worst of times.

I was reminded of the text I wrote following time in Biloxi after Hurricane Katrina, which I've reposted below.

The Fury of the Wind, The Raging of the Sea

The fury of the wind,
The raging of the sea,
How small a whisper do we hear
Of our God's majesty!
The thunder of His pow'r,
O, who can understand?
Before the fullness of His wrath
O, who of us could stand?

"Shall man find fault with God?"
He asks of man below.
"Now, gird yourself to answer Me.
And tell Me, if you know:
Who made the earth and sea?
Who speaks and stars obey?
Who plays with creatures of the deep?
Who gives the beast its prey?"

You, Lord, can do all things,
And none can stay Your hand.
I uttered what I did not know
And could not understand.
Before Your greatness, Lord,
I fall upon my face.
And, by such glory stripped of pride,
I cast myself on grace.

The raging wind and sea
Cause me to flee to Christ,
Who bore the tempest of God's wrath
To be my sacrifice.
Though in the storm I'm blind,
I trust my Sovereign's plan.
I know that my Redeemer lives
And with Him I shall stand.

Text: © Eric Schumacher (1976- )
Tune: George William Martin (1821-1881), LEOMINSTER

Reprint permission granted for temporary, non-salable, worship media.