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WARREN WIERSBE | AUDIO BIBLE STUDY | PART 2 | GOD'S ANSWER TO MAN'S SUFFERING | "COMPANIONSHIP" |AES
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foreign [Music]
from Isaiah chapter 43
and then from second Corinthians chapter one
you will see the connection in these two passages
passages
in the presence of God with his people
but now thus saith the Lord who created
thee o Jacob
and he who formed thee o Israel
fear not
for I have redeemed thee
I have called thee by thy name
when thou passes through the waters I
will be with thee
and through the rivers they shall not
overflow thee
but now walk us through the fire
Thou shalt not be burned neither shall
the flame Kindle upon thee for I and the
Lord thy God
the Holy One of Israel thy savior
I gave Egypt for thy Ransom
Ethiopia and Siva for the
since thou was precious in my sight
thou Hast been honorable
and I have loved thee
therefore will I give men for thee and
people for thy life
fear nah
for I am with thee
I will bring thy seed from the East and
gather thee from the West I will say to
the north give up
and of the South keep not back
bring my sons from far and my daughters
from the ends of the Earth
even everyone who is called by my name
for I have created him for my glory
I have formed him yay
second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 3.
blessed be God even the father of our
Lord Jesus Christ
the father of mercies and the God of All Comfort
Comfort
who comforteth Us in all our tribulation
that we may be able to comfort them who
are in any trouble
by the comfort with which we ourselves
are comforted of God
for as the sufferings of Christ abound
in us so our consolation also abounded
by Christ
and whether we be afflicted it is for
your consolation and salvation
which is effectual in the enduring of
the same sufferings
which we also suffer
or whether we be comforted it is for
your consolation and salvation
and our hope of you is steadfast
knowing that as ye are partakers of the
sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation
consolation
for we would not Brethren have you
ignorant of our trouble which came to us
in Asia
that we were pressed out of measure
above strength
in so much that we despaired even of life
life
but we had the sentence of death in
ourselves that we should not trust in
ourselves but in God who raiseth the Dead
Dead
who delivered us from so great a death
and doth deliver
in whom we trust that he will yet
Deliver Us ye also helping together by
prayer for us
that for the gift bestowed upon us by
the means of many persons thanks
may be given by many
on our behalf
have you discovered that God is the god
if you are going through difficulties
the result will be
either that you will build walls
some people when they go through
walls of self-pity
walls of isolation
walls of resentment and bitterness and
envy of those that they think are in
and this leads to loneliness
it leads to emotional and spiritual immaturity
immaturity [Music]
[Music]
they build themselves into a box and
that box becomes a coffin [Music]
[Music]
the Christian does
shouldn't do it
the person who lives by faith in Jesus
Christ when he goes through the
difficulties of life
finds himself not isolated but involved
he finds himself not building walls but
Building Bridges
he discovers himself growing
instead of putting himself into a box he
finds himself expanding and enlarging
we've been talking these Sunday mornings
and today we've come to the fourth
answer that God gives to us companionship
our first answer was creation there is
suffering because the world we live in
is a suffering world
groaning and travailing in pain
god's second answer was conflict
there is an enemy in this world who's
the third answer God gave to us is character
character
tribulation is working patience and patience
patience
tried and proven character
and now the fourth answer companionship
God permits us to go through
difficulties and trials and sufferings
because he wants us to experience the
kind of companionship that can only be
experienced in the valley
now all of us if we are honest confess
that life is not always dark
life is not always in a minor key
God knows how to arrange the experiences
and the events of life to balance one
against another
when you read the
marching of the children of Israel from
Egypt to Canaan you discover that there
were times when they were hungry
there were times when God fed them
lavishly there were times when they were
thirsty there were times when God just
flooded the waters out at their feet
there were times when they were in
battle and there were times when God
gave them rest
oases in the desert God knows how to
balance life
and none of us can really complain
the master artist knows how to blend the
colors of life
for our good and for his glory
and there are times when God ordains
that we go through difficulty sorrow suffering
suffering
that we might learn to experience the
kind of companionship that Isaiah
chapter 43 talks about and the kind of
companionship that second Corinthians
chapter 1 talks about
because in the difficulties of life if
you're walking by faith
you will experience a two-fold
companionship that you can experience no
other way
Isaiah chapter 43 talks about this first
companionship that we experience a deeper
deeper
companionship with the Lord
when thou passes through the waters I
will be with thee
I'm not standing on the shore and saying
let me throw you a life preserver I'm
and through the rivers they shall not
overflow thee when thou walk us through
Thou shalt not be burned
prophet Isaiah had said back in chapter
41 and verse 10 fear thou not for I am
with thee
be not dismayed for I am thy God the
companionship the deeper companionship
with God now what is Isaiah saying to us
in chapter 43 well he's saying this
first of all
God is not against us God is with us
there was a time in our lives when we
were against God we were at enmity with God
God
we were at war with God God gave the law
we disobeyed it God said walk this path
we walked over there and then there came
a time when we trusted Christ as our
savior and we cease to be at enmity with
God we were reconciled to God
became children in God's family
we began to share in the very life and
nature of God
so he says look I'm with you not against you
you
well because we are his property look at
chapter 43 of Isaiah verse 1.
but now thus saith the Lord who created thee
thee
he formed thee
I have redeemed Thee I have called thee
by thy name we are his property
what father is there what mother is
there who would not endure the suffering
with the child and even for the child
now he created us he took clay and he
made us and during our lives he has been
forming us
and not only did he claim Us by creation
he claimed Us by salvation I have
redeemed thee and that means Jesus died
for us that means the blood of Jesus
Christ was shed for us and he goes on to
say I have called thee by thy name we
aren't strangers to God
when he spoke to little Samuel he didn't
say Hey kid
he said Samuel Samuel
when he spoke to Abraham he said Abraham Abraham
Jesus looked up and said Zacchaeus come down
down
Martha Martha Thou Art anxious and
worried about many things he knows your
name he created you he formed you he
redeemed you he called you and he said
having done all of this for you through
Jesus Christ I am not going to Desert you
verse 4 tells us that we are precious to him
him
since thou was precious in my sight
we look upon the word precious today as
somewhat of an effeminate kind of a word
the kind of a word that strong people
don't use all but it is the kind of a
word that strong people use who would
criticize or laugh at a strong man who
takes his little child in his arms and
says you're precious to me
that's not a sign of weakness that's a
sign of strength and God looks upon us
with our failures and our faults and all
of our weaknesses and our sins he says
you're precious to me
he tells me in verse 7 I have created
him for my glory
you see whenever the Lord permits us to
go through difficulty it's because he
has some glorious purpose to fulfill
we don't always understand it
we're like job we we see the action but
we haven't read the script
and we wonder what's going on
ever walk into the room in the middle of
a TV drama or a football game for that matter
matter
and you say hey what's going on
life is this way
and the waters begin to get higher and
higher and the fire begins to get hotter
and hotter and we say Lord we don't
understand he says I can't explain it
all to you and if I did explain it it
wouldn't make much difference to you
because you don't live by explanations
if you only used in your life those
things that you understood completely
I don't understand the electricity I'm
sure there are people who do but I thank
God for it
I don't understand the internal
combustion engine there are people who
a deeper companionship with God because
we are his that's what he says you are mine
mine
fear not
I am with thee
now how is God With Us
when he says don't be afraid I am with you
you
how is he with us does this mean that
that he forsakes the Throne of heaven
and comes down and walks with me does it
mean he sends angels to be with me
I am the Lord
thy God the Holy One thy savior he is
with us in his person he is there in the
person of the spirit of God he's right
there with us
now we've had people say well I'm with
you in spirit
which means they're not going to be with
us in presence
you're lying in the hospital bed and you
feel very very ill and the doctor comes
in and he attends to you but he can't
stay with you forever he has 27 other
patients in that hospital and he has a
but our God says I am there in my person
I am the Lord look at these names the
Lord Jehovah the God who makes covenants
and when you were saved you entered into
a new covenant with me and I'm going to
keep that Covenant I'm the Lord I am thy God
God
that word God is the word that speaks of
power the god of power I am the Lord thy
God the holy one that encourages me
when you're going through the waters and
the fire the Devil comes and says oh why
is this happening to you if God really
were the right kind of a God he wouldn't
do this
Satan is the accuser not only does he
accuse the Brethren he accuses the Lord
oh the only reason you've the only
reason that job is a good godly man is
because you've protected him
he's your favorite he's your teacher's pet
my Bible says that when I go through
difficulty and trial God is the Holy One
he cannot do anything wrong
I don't understand
and Satan May whisper to me God's
holding out on you God is not being true
to you that's not true Satan he's the
Holy One he cannot do anything wrong
this is what Abraham said to God when he
was interceding for Sodom he said Can
does not the judge of all the Earth do right
right
he is the Redeemer the Savior I am the Lord
Lord
thy God the Holy One of Israel thy savior
savior
he's with us in his person
now you don't always feel him there you
don't always see him there but he's
there how do you know he's there he said
he would be there
he didn't say a light would flash a
voice would sound a trumpet would blow
an electric shock would go through your
body he just simply said I am there
that's what the Incarnation of Jesus
Christ is all about when Jesus came to
this earth and wedded himself to human
nature God said call his name Emmanuel
Emmanuel means god with us
and all the way through the Earthly life
of Jesus it's God with us then he went
back to heaven but before he left he
said something lo I Am With You Always
even to the End of the Age though I am
leaving physically I can never leave you
he's with us in his person
he's with us in his Providence verse 2.
you're going through the waters I
control those Waters
you're going through the fire I'm in
charge of the fire
I'll see to it that the waters won't
drown you oh they may come up to your chin
chin
and you may have to do some real
Evangelical dog paddling to keep
yourself up there
that's all right you'll grow muscles
he's with us in his providences
we have forgotten I'm afraid in this
world of science and technology we have
forgotten that God still controls this world
world
now God is not to blame for the
wickedness of man God is not to blame
for the convulsions of nature as I said
we live in a world that is just
travailing in pain but God's in control
when they put those Hebrew children into
the furnace God was in control
they went through the fire and the fire
didn't burn them and more than that the
when the nation of Israel went through
the waters the waters didn't drown them
God Is With Us in his providences God is
still on the throne
he certainly is with us in his promises
I've noticed In this passage in Isaiah
43 how many times he says I will I will
I will I will
he doesn't say now if you do this I will
the mother puts the frightening child to
bed and the child says mother I'm afraid
I'll be right here
and if you call I'll be right by your side
side
the child turns over and goes to sleep
and says mother made a promise and
she'll keep it
you see we live by promises
recently someone was asking me for an
explanation of why certain tragedies
took place and my answer was very short
and simple I don't know
but if I didn't know it wouldn't make a
bit of difference
we don't live by explanations we live by promises
promises
God Is With Us in his promises and he
says I am with thee fear not I will I
will I will I will gather you Jewish
people from the North and the South and
the East and the West I'm going to
gather you I'm not going to scatter
you see the unsaved person and the
unbelieving person when he goes through
difficulty everything falls apart
but the Christian who trusts God
God gathers everything together he's
with us in his promises he's with us in
his power
I recall walking into a hospital in
Cincinnati Ohio
walking into a room and there in that
bed lay a precious girl it had the joy
of baptizing her and her father and her mother
mother
and she was dying
she was an only daughter only child
she was dying
why is this happening
I said get your Bible and she reached
for it I said turn to Isaiah 41 and she
found that I said look at verse 10.
fear thou not for I am with thee
be not dismayed for I am thy God I will
strengthen thee
yeah I will help thee yea I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my
righteousness and I said now it doesn't
doesn't say God's going to change here
but he might
he might in his divine power heal you
but if he doesn't here's what he says
I'm with you don't be afraid
I'm going to strengthen you for whatever
you have to have needles and poses and
machinery and Medicine and pain
I can still remember how many times
until the Lord called her home I'd stop
to see her and very often before I'd
leave she'd say
he's with us in his power
but Lord I'm going to sink
oh no my hand my arm is with you but I
can't make it I'll strengthen you
but I'm afraid don't be afraid I'm with you
you
my friend you don't learn that in a
theology book
you don't learn that
from a sermon you'll learn that going
through the water and going through the furnace
it's a great lesson to learn
it's a costly less it's a painful lesson
but I have discovered that the greatest
you say but that's just for special
people isn't it I notice that he calls
him Jacob
Isaiah 43 but now thus saith the Lord
who created the O Jacob
you ought to read the life of Jacob and
find how many times God said I'll be
with you I'm with you Jacob ran away
from home a liar a schemer he went to
sleep and God said you know what Jacob
I'm right here because I didn't know
that well I'm here
and I'm going to be with you
over and over again in the Book of
Genesis you find it says and God was
with Jacob and God said to Jacob don't
be afraid to go to Egypt I'll be with
you don't be afraid to do this I'll be
with you I'll be with you
happen to Joseph boy if anybody had a
sold as a slave and made into a prisoner
prisoner
yet it says in the word of God the Lord
was with Joseph the Lord was with Joseph
Moses said I can't do it Lord he said
don't be afraid I'll be with you the
angel shows up at Gideon's
side where Gideon is hiding and
threshing some wheat
the Lord is with thee with thee thou
Mighty Man of Valor
and God took that ordinary dirt farmer
who was scared to death and made a Great
Hero out of him why he was with him
God made the promise to Joshua Don't Be
Afraid as I was with Moses I'll be with you
the Apostle Paul was having a rough time
in Corinth
Acts chapter 18. he was ready to quit
the Lord Jesus showed up and said don't
be afraid I'm with you just stay right
here I have many people in this city
later on when Paul was arrested the Lord
showed up and said don't be afraid I'm
with you on that boat when they're going
through the storm God's angel comes and
says Paul don't be afraid you aren't
Paul wrote his last letter II Timothy
you get to chapter four he says
everybody's forsaken me everybody's
forsaken me you can't depend on people
everybody's forsaken me but the Lord
my friend there is a deeper experience
of the companionship of God when you go
through difficulty
but it's a kind of a blessing that I
now in second Corinthians chapter one
there is a second kind of companionship
that we experience in the sufferings of
life not only a deeper companionship
with God but a deeper companionship with
you see everybody is going through
suffering everybody unsaved people go
through it
new Christians go through it mature
Christians go through it everybody's
that's the
great Scottish preacher John Watson
used to remind his students be kind
for everyone you meet is fighting a battle
battle
that's true
that waitress was a little bit sharp
with you the other day but she's got a
sick baby at home she's worried about her
that neighbor in your building was a
little bit Curt with you in the laundry
room but that's okay she's about to lose
her job
everybody's got something
and in second Corinthians chapter one we
discover Paul was going through trouble
look at the words he uses tribulation trouble
suffering pressed out of measure
sufferings trouble despair it's an
interesting thing in verse 8 he says he
despaired even his life he was ready to
give up Paul since the end of my Ministry
Ministry
I don't know what trouble he was going
through some people think it was the
problems in Ephesus I don't know
all I know is that Paul had come to the
everybody's going through some kind of
suffering and everybody needs comfort
the word Comfort is used ten different
times in this passage
it's unfortunate that it's translated
comfort and consolation back in the days
when this was translated it had a little
different connotation to it today when
you talk about Comfort it's mother
picking up the baby and saying there
there it's all right pampering pitying
uh sentimental kind of a thing that's
not what that word means
when Paul says he's the God of All
Comfort when he says that Jesus Christ
abounds with Comfort he's not talking
about sentimental shallow kind of pity
that Pampers us and makes babies out of
us God never want to make babies out of
us he wants to make strong men and women
out of us the Greek word means
as you know
one who comes alongside to help you it's
the same word that's used for the Holy Spirit
Spirit
it's the Greek word paracaleo called
alongside and when Paul talks about comfort
comfort
he doesn't mean that God's patting us on
the head it means that God comes right
alongside if you're in the fire he's in
the fire if you're going through the
water he's going through the water and
he's there to strengthen you our English
word come for it comes from a Latin two
Latin words it means with strength fortification
so comfort means with strength that
psalmist said he strengthened me with
now why does the Lord Comfort us why is
he the father of Mercies
God has the all the market on Mercy if
you want Mercy you have to come to God
and get it why is he the God of All
Comfort all kinds of comfort you're
going through sorrow he has comfort for sorrow
sorrow
you're going through loss you're going
through disappointment someone near and
dear has stabbed you in the back and God
has comfort for that he's the God of all
Grace he's the God of All Comfort not
some comfort not some Grace
when you come to God you can get all
that you need now why does he do this
why does his comfort abound
Paul tells us that we might be able to
that's why
God's Comfort is never given that we
might selfishly say oh thank you Lord
for comforting me God's Comfort is given
that we might be able to say thank you
Lord for comforting me and I'm going to
go out now and comfort somebody else [Music]
[Music]
that's why you're going through
difficulty someone's going to come into
your life
now this doesn't mean that we have to
experience all of the difficulties of
a doctor does not have to have cancer to
be able to help a cancer patient
a dentist does not have to have a an
abscessed tooth to be able to help a
what he's saying is it's a marvelous
thing in verse 4 he says the Comfort God
gives you in any trouble you go through
he can take and help anybody else no
you don't have to be able to say well I
know what it's like to to lose a baby
but you can say I know what it's like to
you don't have to be able to say well
yes I've been through that
but you can say I have been through the
valley and I've discovered that God
meets my need
see we have the foolish idea and the
selfish idea that a person has to go
through exactly what we go through to be
able to understand us that's not true
human nature is human nature suffering
is suffering difficulty is difficulty
battle is Battle and God is God and when
you receive the comfort of God
regardless of what you've gone through
others can tell it there's a tenderness
about you there's a sensitivity about you
you
it's not that shallow sentimental kind
of a thing that says well keep a stiff
upper lip ever try that
no when a Christian comes on the scene
and puts his arm around you and he says look
look
God can see you through
that's why we're here for that deeper
companionship with others
suffering is not given to us to isolate
us it's given to us that we might be
some Christians get so selfish in their suffering
suffering
they think they're the only ones who've
ever been in a grave side they're the
only ones who's ever who have ever been
in an intensive care Ward they're the
and I'm here to tell you that
everybody's going through a battle
but the difference is this
there are some of you who have tasted
that deeper companionship with God and
you're able to reach out and have a
deeper companionship with other people
and there is a fellowship in the valley
that's different from the fellowship on
the Mountaintop
there's a fellowship in the darkness
when you're walking by faith that's
different from the fellowship out there
in the garden when the light and the sun
some people never taste of this because
they let their sufferings crush them
instead of build them they let their
Crush their sufferings defile them
instead of cleanse them they find
themselves getting full of pity and
resentment and they draw into themselves
instead of reaching out and saying look
that in order for you and me to
experience this deeper companionship
with God
Jesus had to die and lose the fellowship
if his own son when he went through the valley
valley
at that hour when my Lord bore my sin he
cried out my God my God why is thou
forsaken me I've heard people say to me
Pastor God's forsaken me
God's never forsaken anyone except his son
forsook Jesus that he might be able to
say to you
and for the Lord Jesus
to be able to help me have the deeper
companionship with others he was
he took the three disciples into the
garden they went to sleep
he's crying out to God he's he's bearing
his soul they're sleeping
this deeper blessing of companionship
costs Jesus Christ
his life
it's not cheap
this is why God sometimes doesn't allow
some of his children to go through this
experience because they would take it
too lightly too cheaply they don't
realize how costly is suffering
but if God has called you to go through
the valley and there's heartbreak and
heartache it's because he's trusting you
with a deeper blessing
a deeper companionship with God fear
thou not I'm with thee
a deeper companionship with others we
receive the comfort of God and we share
this comfort of God with others and they
look at us and say you know you understand
did you say
I have a father who understands and cares
cares
and I'm just sharing with you what he
shared with me
don't let the sufferings of Life isolate you
you
don't build walls let the sufferings of life
life
involve you
build Bridges
and move into that enriching enlarging
experience of a deeper companionship
with God
thank you Father
thank you so much for the comfort and
strength that you give
forgive us our complaining are criticizing
criticizing
forgive us our self-pity
forgive us O Lord when we have drawn
into our own little world to protect ourselves
ourselves
when there's a great big world that
needs our encouragement help us this
coming week tenderly
tenderly
understandingly lovingly to touch the
lives of others
and to be channels of your comfort and
let them know that you care
because we care
oh Lord
thank you
that you are with us
thank you so much
I pray that you will help us now
help those who have never trusted Christ
to trust him
help those who are going through
difficulty to trust and not be afraid
for Jesus said amen
amen [Music]
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