Those who are examples of steadfastness
in trials that he speaks of here in verse four, your steadfastness
and faith in all of your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
we know what it means to glory in them. It's not what you might
think at first, but I believe we who know the Lord know what
that means. So much their faith being tried
and yet they're found faithful steadfastness in trials We've all certainly Just about
I would say everybody has done this glory in them That display
the graces of God in trouble tribulation We have loved ones
who have died in the Lord and And just before they died, they've
been a great blessing to us by their example. Because their example shows how
gracious the Lord is to give peace when it's needed. To glory
in them is certainly not to brag on them or glorify them. Speaking of this same steadfastness
in faith, in verse three, Paul says, we owe it to God, don't
we? We owe that to God. So we don't brag on those who
have it. We boast in the Lord that gives
it. We're bound to thank God for
these qualities in you. And that's what our Lord says. I mean, let your light so shine
that men may glorify your Father, not you. But being blessed and encouraged
to see what God has done for them and in them causes us to
glory, to rejoice and be delighted about that. We know
some who have endured and are even now enduring great sorrow. But remember what it says of
Job. And we see this in some people, don't we? It says in
Job 2.10, after all that he had suffered, lost, what a great
sense of loss. How often that type of thing
causes men to curse God. Job's own wife said, why don't
you just curse God and die? Look, look, God hasn't done Anything
but torture you why don't you curse God the reason she said
that is because that's what most people would do But it says in
Job 2 10 in all this Job did not sin with his lips I've seen that happen. I've seen
people that I could say that about and what a blessing that
That is, they're a testimony to God's grace and the peace
that he gives to those who trust him. And when God does something
that causes sorrow in his sheep, it also causes worship. What
a gracious work that is in us. We worship him because knowing
that he did it and that he does all things well, that he's on
the throne and that he loves us. Everything works for our
eternal good. Then we're able to glory even
in infirmities, sorrow and pain. Notice that he said there in
verse four, in the churches, we glory in you in the churches,
the Lord's sheep are blessed all who hear of the steadfastness,
the faith and the love of those who are greatly tried, we're
encouraged by that. It's an encouragement to us. The church. For various reasons, again, just
to see as an example, to know that one of these days, if not
now, if not surely already we have, but one of these days again,
we're gonna need that kind of grace. and to see how graciously
the Lord gives it to his sheep is encouraging. Also, we're happy for those who
have this grace that are able, and another reason Paul said,
we glory in you in the churches. We rejoice together with you
and thank God for you or encouraged, because when we see someone that
we love hurting, when we see someone we love suffering, there's nothing that you wouldn't
do to help, but you find yourself nonetheless
helpless. What can I do? There's not much I can do for
a broken heart, but when I see that the Lord who is able to mend hearts, when I see him
who is able to hold and to keep, to sustain, to give peace in the hearts of
his people, it causes me to rest in him too. Aren't you thankful especially
when you say to those that you love that are in tribulation, you say,
let me know if there's anything I can do to be a help, but you
know when you say that, there's probably not. We can be an encouragement,
and that's a great honor if the Lord uses us in that way, We
look to him for them. They look to him and we look
to him because there's nothing we can do. We're that much more thankful
when he does. Verse five in our text, which
is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that you may
be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer.
And notice carefully that it's not their faith in trials that
makes them worthy of the kingdom of God, or is even a token that they're counted worthy.
It says they're counted worthy, or this is a good sign that they
are, but it's not their faith that is that manifest token.
The only way to be counted worthy of God's kingdom is to be in
Christ Jesus, the king. and this is made clear later
in this passage, but this being called a manifest token shows that what Paul is referring
to here is what our Lord said in John 16, 33. He may have had
reference to this when he said this is a manifest token that
you may just be in the kingdom of God. John 16, 33, these things
I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In
the world, you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. Now, it doesn't mean that if
bad things, so-called bad things, we don't even know what's good
or bad, really, when something happens, it may very much be
a blessing that looks like a trial. But it doesn't mean just because
something bad happens to somebody that doesn't know the Lord that
that means, you know, they may, that makes them, that's a token
that maybe they're counted worthy on that basis. Now he's talking
about tribulation for the sake of Christ, for the sake of the
gospel, which we clearly see in this context is what they
were suffering. We're gonna see that in the context
in a minute. And so that, the Lord said, If you serve me, if
you honor me, if you love me, if you follow me, you're gonna
have tribulation. They hated me, they're gonna
hate you like they hated me. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. Listen to 2 Timothy 3.10. Paul speaking to Timothy, writing
to Timothy here, he said, but thou hast fully known my doctrine,
my manner of life, my purpose, my faith, my long-suffering,
my love, my patience, my persecutions, afflictions which came unto me
at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured,
but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yay, and all that
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution You
see what kind of persecution he's talking about Persecution for living godly
in Christ for And we've seen that word godly that doesn't
mean you're like a god It means you live like God is God In Christ Jesus you're gonna
suffer for it You're gonna suffer for it, and you're gonna suffer
because God dealeth with you as with children. If you just suffer in this world
for being stupid, that doesn't make you a child of God. But if you are a child of God,
he's gonna correct you. He's gonna chastise you. He's
gonna teach you. The word judgment in verse five
is worth talking about. This is a manifest token. The
fact that you're suffering for his sake is a manifest token
of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy
of the kingdom of God for which you also suffer. See, I said
it's in the context, but there it is at the end of this verse,
for which you also suffer. They weren't just suffering by
chance, like men say, I have bad luck, no. They were suffering
for the kingdom of God. And that's a token that you may
just be worthy of the kingdom of God. Not because you suffer,
we'll talk about that, Lord willing, in a minute. But listen here. The word judgment there, it's
a token of the righteous judgment of God. That word judgment in
verse five means a separating. A trial or a contest. And given the context here, I
don't see how we can ignore that aspect of the meaning of the
word judgment. A trial, a contest that separates. By trials, tribulations, and
persecution, God is separating his sheep from the goats. There's
a judgment, meaning there's a difference being made here. And he does
that by separating them into two camps, the persecuted and
the persecutors. There's the enemy and there's
his children. And that's made manifest in these
trials, isn't it? When you suffer for the kingdom
of God, it's pretty clear which side you're on. That's why it's
a manifest token of their worthiness in Christ, of the kingdom, because
they're the ones suffering for the sake of his kingdom, and
those who are making them suffer are the enemies of his kingdom.
There's a separation. Trials that don't involve enemies
of the gospel. There is a separation because You see how clearly when there's
a trial By the world against the children of God or by Satan
against the children of God Then the separation is clear if you're
on one side of that or the other side of that But also when there's
no enemy involved when the Lord just brings tribulation trouble
suffering There's a separation there too, because one will bless
God in trial and one will curse him. There's a difference made
when there's trouble. You know, when everything's going
smooth, everybody loves God, you know, thank the Lord, the
Lord's blessing me, I got a great promotion, I'm doing well, thank
the Lord, but when there's trouble, There's a difference, man, there's
a separation. You'll find out who truly blesses God. We talked about Job before. God made a difference there,
didn't he? He made a difference there by
his grace. But Paul speaks primarily of
what these believers seem to be going through, which was persecution
for the gospel's sake. He said it was for the kingdom
of God that they suffered, in which scenario you have those
who persecute because they hate God, and you have those who endure
because they love God. The difference is always there
in their hearts, but God causes, God forces a revealing of this
separation with the persecutions. See that? Even when everybody's
just minding their own business, there's a difference. God's either
given you life in Christ or he hadn't if he hadn't there's a
great difference But then that difference will be revealed When the Lord brings these trials If you have had friends in this
world Who don't know the Lord and I
have And in some cases I still do.
I still do. A few. You know by the gospel
that they hate God. You know their problem is they
hate God. It's not just that they don't understand something. They hate God. They understand
who God is enough to hate him. And I know that. I know that
about them. But there can be camaraderie as long God's honor
is not at stake But when it comes to that though there will be
a separation I've experienced that I suspect many of you have
experienced that so what Paul is saying that God making this
separation This righteous judgment Is a manifest token to these
believers and to other believers Of who's who? which side of it
you're on. But them being on the side of
the kingdom, suffering for the kingdom may indicate that God
has counted them worthy of the kingdom in Christ. So even in the trouble, they
can be encouraged in that. They belong to the king, not
the enemies of the king. You see what he's saying? Verse
six. Seeing it as a righteous thing
with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you God takes it personally when
one of his children is troubled Matthew 18 for if you want to
turn there, but let me read it Matthew 18, four, whosoever therefore
shall humble himself as this little child, the same as greatest
in the kingdom of heaven, and whoso shall receive one such
little child in my name, receiveth me. Are you talking about little
kids? But whoso shall offend, verse
six, one of these little ones which believe in me. He's saying
my people are like a little child. He's not talking about little
children. God may or may not defend and take vengeance against
crimes against children just as children. But I guarantee
you, if you're one of his little children that believe in him,
on him, It were better for the one that
offends Troubles one of those little
ones it would better for him that a millstone were hanged
about his neck And that he were drowned in the depth of the sea
Woe unto the world because of offenses for it must needs be
that offenses come but woe to that man by whom The offense
cometh so those who are troubling you those who are causing you
pain and suffering and tribulation. It's a righteous thing with God
that they don't get away with it. It's a token that you're
His, but for them, it's a death sentence. Matthew 1810, take heed that
you despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you
that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my
father which is in heaven. For the son of man has come to
save that which was lost. Isn't that a beautiful, they're
your angels. I don't know what that means
exactly other than Seems to mean that the Lord has assigned them
to you. But they looking at God's face.
And you see the context of that here. They're going to do God's
will concerning you. In the context of. If you offend
one of these little ones, you're a goner. Now, offenses is one thing. To offend me is one thing. Sin
is another thing. The offense can be against me,
but the sin is against God. All sin is against God. David said, against thee and
thee only have I sinned. He had wronged people. very direly wronged them. But he said, only against you
have I sinned. That eclipses everything. You can't sin against me because
I'm not God, but if you do one of God's children wrong, he takes
it so that it's done unto him. And so there's punishment for
sin. You wronged them, but you sinned against God when you wronged
them. That's what he's saying here.
It's a righteous judgment of God to recompense to them the
evil that they committed against Him when they harmed you. That's comforting. That's comforting. But you know what God's people
say? I'd say Stephen was offended In the sense of the word offended,
when they took up stones and threw them, undoubtedly great stones in so
much that it crushed his body to death. But as he was dying, he said,
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And of course, we know
what that means, that even though We crucified the Son of God.
Some of those who crucified him are saved by the very cross. And what he's saying is, I pray
that some of these, or all of them, he's saying, the only way
sin is not laid to your charge is if Christ suffered for it.
You see what he's praying for them. So we're not vindictive. But I tell you this, the Lord
is in a righteous sense. He's taught us to forgive. Forgive your enemies now. Because
we're not God. We're not God. God forgives his
enemies, but not all of them. Not all of them. We're to forgive
all of them. Because we're not him. We don't
know. So it's justice with God to recompense,
and that word means to take vengeance on those who persecute his sheep. In verse seven of our text, and
to you who are troubled, rest. Opposite words, trouble and rest. Because though in this world
there's trouble, This world there's trouble because of this world
there's trouble because of our own wretched sin the world that's
in a trouble But he says rest in spite of
it And you even have reason to rest
because of it that's what he said this is a manifest token
That ought to be encouraging that ought to be a blessing But rest, in trouble, rest with
us. Why? The Lord Jesus. You see the next
phrase? Rest. Even when there's trouble, when
the Lord prophesied the great tribulation that Jerusalem would
go through, our instruction was to look up.
to see that we're about to be redeemed, to rest, to take refuge,
not by hiding necessarily from the trouble, the earthly trouble
itself, although that's just natural to do that, but hiding
in Him, looking to Him in it, resting in Him. We rest when
the Lord Jesus is revealed. From heaven with His mighty angels,
ultimately, But even now when we see the Lord Jesus and what
who he is and what he did and what he's promised we rest Again with Job, you know, he
suffered unthinkable misery he longed for death He begged God
to kill him And listen to what he said He could have taken his own life.
Many have, but he knew that that was God's prerogative. So he
asked God, Lord, if this is my life, I don't need it anymore. I don't want it anymore. I don't
want this anymore. Take my life, kill me. And you
know what he said in verse 17 of Job 3? There, in death, the
wicked cease from troubling. They can't hurt me there. They
can't burn down all my property and steal all my cattle. The wicked cease from troubling,
and there the weary be at rest. That's kind of beautiful, isn't
it? Lord, just take me home. The wicked can't trouble me there. And I'm tired. I'm tired. Paul comforts these believers
by reminding them that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming with his
mighty angels. It's not always gonna be like
this. Injustice, treachery, you see,
boy, doesn't it just kill you when you see injustice done? We're not even good judges of
that, but it's kind of blatant enough sometimes that even we
can see That's just wrong. It's infuriating, isn't it? But remember, the Lord Jesus
is coming to set everything right. He's going to make every crooked
way straight and every valley is going to be lifted up and
every hill is going to be brought low. The Lord Jesus Christ is
keeping the books. He's going to come balance them
one of these days. It's always balanced. When He comes back, there's not
going to be any injustice then. Remember who's on the throne
now, before He comes back. He's on the throne. You subjects
of the kingdom, remember who your King is. That's what He's
saying. Rest with us. Rest with all of
us Trust Him who looked to Him. When there's wrong and injustice
done in this world, we know who keeps the books. The psalmist who wrote Psalm
73 began with, woe is me, but then being taught of God, he
said, woe is them. Woe is them. The Lord has set their feet in
slippery places, not mine. I suffer tribulation and trial
and trouble, but my feet are on the rock. Those who cause
tribulation, trouble, who are the enemies of the Lord, their
feet are on slippery ground. So it's not woe is me, it's woe
is them. Don't forget this wonderful,
beautiful promise. Turn with me to Revelation 21. Revelation chapter 21, verse
3. With these words in mind, where
Paul said, rest with us. You're in pain now. You're in sorrow. You're in tribulation. You suffer wrong and injustice,
violence even. You suffer in the wrath of this
wretched, godless, God-hating world. but rest, rest with us. Revelation 21 three, and I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men and he will dwell with them and they shall be his
people. And God himself shall be with
them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. You're crying now. but remember who your God is.
It's not going to be long until he wipes himself. He's not going
to send an angel to wipe him away. He's going to himself with
the hand of God. That's Jesus Christ. He's going
to wipe away all the tears from your eyes. And there shall be
no more death. No more sin, so no more death.
Neither sorrow. You're not going to suffer like
you do now. nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are passed
away. And he that sat upon the throne
said, behold, I make all things new. That's what he's saying in our
text. Rest with us. The Lord Jesus is going to come.
the one who has made the separation. He said he's gonna gather those
on his right hand and on his left hand. And when he comes,
we're all gonna be, there is the judgment seat of Christ.
There's a separation, there's a difference made. And Christ is the difference
himself. He said, I'll make all things
new. No more crying, no more tear,
no more sorrow, no more pain, no more suffering. I'm gonna
make everything new. And he said to John, write this
down. For these words are true and faithful. You can count on
it. Rest with all those who look
for him. We don't know when our Lord will
come back. No man does. He clearly said that. But already
we rest because of his coming. Because it's the promise of God.
Because by his grace we believe his promise. And we pray with
John. Even so come Lord Jesus. Let's pray.