I'd like to take your Bibles
and turn with me to 2 Timothy, chapter 1. 2 Timothy, chapter
1. Our text will be found in verse
12. The title of the message this
morning is, The Remedy of Suffering. The Remedy of Suffering. 2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse
12. Scripture says, For which cause
I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. First of all, I see in this text
a word to suffering saints. To suffering saints. Now we know
that suffering is common to all men. Physical, emotional suffering
is common to all men. The Lord Jesus tells us, that
it rains upon the just and the unjust. The sun rises upon the
just and the unjust. So we know that there are times
of joy in an unbeliever's life as sorrow and the same for a
believer. That there are sufferings, all
types of sufferings out there. All men are prone to sickness,
unspeakable tragedies. Think of those that the Lord
spoke of concerning on whom the tower of Siloam fell. These men
asked Jesus, he said, what do you think about these Nazarenes
that Pilate killed? What do you think about that?
And he said, well, what do you think about those 18 people that
tower fell on? Bad things happen. Tragedies
happen. Suffering happens to all men. All these physical sufferings
are common to men because of one reason. Sin has entered into
this world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
for all have sinned. The cause of suffering is sin. The cause of suffering is sin. When Adam, our father, your father,
my father, disobeyed God, and tried to rob God of His glory.
God said, In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.
And he surely died the moment, the second he disobeyed God. He died spiritually, and that
death is passed to us, that's passed to our children. No one
escapes this spiritual death. And because of this, every man
has turned his face from the only good in the universe, which
is God. Every man by nature seeks his
own way, his own satisfaction, and because of this, sin in our
lives, it's sin that causes suffering. Now, this may not be direct suffering. Our suffering may not be a direct
result of our sin, but it is a direct result of some sin somewhere. You remember that man who was
born blind? The disciples asked the question, why is this man
born blind? Was it his parents' sin or was it his sin? And Jesus
said, neither. Neither. He wasn't born blind
for that purpose. But we know that blindness has
come into the world because of sin. We know that. We know that
that man sinned and we know his parents sinned. But this matter
of being born blind was determined by God so that He might manifest
His glory in it. Now it's clear that if a man
commits sin, This man who was born blind, he was for the purpose
of displaying the glory of God. But think of this. If a man commits
fornication and he gets a disease, is that not a direct result of
his fornication? Yes. He's not going to be able
to blame anyone else but himself. If a man dies from a drug overdose,
we know this is because of his drug abuse. We know that. It's his sin. that causes the
direct consequence of his suffering. If a thief is caught stealing
and he gets put in jail. I remember I was a jailer at
one time and you know the only guilty people were the jailers.
The innocent people were in the bars. Nobody in there was guilty. We know that's not true. If you're
caught stealing and you get put in jail, it's a direct result
of your sin. You're suffering the consequences
of your sin. Nobody can dispute that. Now,
there are many who call themselves suffering Christians who are
suffering as a result of their sin. This is not suffering for
Christ's sake. I have someone that I know personally
in prison. And he thinks he's a suffering
saint. No, he's a suffering because of his drug addiction. He's suffering
because of his sin. He's in jail because of his sin. In 1 Peter, flip over there, I'm going
to flip over there. 1 Peter chapter 4, it says in
verse 14, If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy
are ye. For the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.
On your part He is evil spoken of, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as
a murderer, as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody
in other men's matters. But if any man suffer as a Christian,
let him not be ashamed. but let him glorify God on his
behalf. Idolatry, fornication, murmuring,
complaining, these should not be named among
the saints. And if you suffer physical troubles
because of these sins, you know it's a direct result
of your sins. But let us who are not taken
by these, let us be careful. Wherefore, if any man, let him
that thinketh, he standeth, take heed, lest he fall." Any one
of us are capable of these sins. Any believer is. And while these sins are common
to men, and these consequences are common, these sins are common,
yet there is a suffering. that only believers in Christ
go through. This is a spiritual suffering. Spiritual suffering. This suffering
is called in Scripture the chastening hand of God. Chastening hand
of God. In Hebrews chapter 12, In verse
5 it says, Have you forgotten the exhortation which speaketh
unto you as children? My son despise not the chastening
hand of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him. For whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son he receiveth. And if you endure chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom
the Father chasteneth not, but if you are without chastisement,
Wherefore, all are partakers, then are you bastards and not
sons. Believers alone suffer under
the chastening hand of God. Believers in Christ ought to,
in humility, know our weakness, the weakness of our flesh, so that we do not fall into these
sins that cause men to blaspheme the name of the Lord. Think of
this, believer. Do you realize that your sins
are not just on you? Think of this. They don't just
end the consequence at you. They all have a ripple effect. I've heard someone say this.
Well, you know, what is it anyone's business what I do? Well, that's ridiculous. If you're
a part of this church, that's just ridiculous. Because what
you do is going to affect me. And it's going to affect everyone
else in here. You remember David, how he sinned. He committed adultery
and then murder. Evil sins. Nathan say about him
he said how be it because by this deed thou has given great
occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the child also
that is born unto thee shall surely die see David suffered
the consequences of his sin And I'm sure that there are many
other men that suffered many consequences for their sin in
the same manner. But David suffered in a different
way than lost men suffer. He suffered in a very spiritual
sense because he knew that this was the hand of God. He was being chastened, not by
the prophet, And not by other men. He was being chastened by
God. He said, I have sinned against
the Lord. Believers, let us in humility
pray to seek God's grace to keep us from such sins. To keep us from sin. Pray that we would be able to
rather suffer anything than have the name of our God blasphemed.
We should be willing to suffer anything so that the name of
our God is praised and not blasphemed. Yet when we sin, the suffering
that is common to only believers is the chastening hand of the
Lord. You who are believers in Christ,
Is this not true of you? Have you been chastened by God
because of your sin? I'm not saying punished. God
is not going to punish us for our sins. Our punishment has
already been accomplished in Christ. Yet, as a loving Father,
He never does it in anger. But as a loving Father, He chastens
us for our own benefit. When we discipline our children,
it is for their benefit. We don't do it because we enjoy
it. We don't do it because it's something that we... I'm sure
my children think that I wake up in the morning just to discipline
them. That's not so. But it's necessary. It's good for them. And so I
do it. How much greater is God who disciplines
His children, who chastens His children, And when we are chastened of
the Lord, believers, only believers, confess their sins and turn from
their sins. There are a lot of false believers
who suffer in this world and they say, Oh! I've sinned! I've
sinned! Oh! Oh! Please save me, God! Please save
me! And then, as soon as all the pain is gone, where do they
go? Right back to the hog pen. Right back where they went before,
nothing has changed. They weren't chastened of God. They just suffered the natural
consequence of sin. But we confess our sin and turn
from our sin. And we confess that the Lord
of all the earth shall do right. What did Eli say when he was
confronted about his son? Let the Lord do whatsoever He
pleases. And that's what we say. We lay
ourselves upon the mercy of God when we are chastened of our
sins. Believers, let us endure God's
chastening. How? By faith. Faith. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. If we are suffering under the
chastening hand of God, then we endure this by believing in
Christ, by trusting in Christ, the same thing that started it.
The same faith that God gave us to believe in Christ is the
same faith we cling to. We cling to faith in Christ. And don't let us murmur about
our sufferings. I'm guilty of this constantly. May God help me. If I'm suffering,
you're going to know about it. That's a problem. I shouldn't
be like that. I've seen men who are able to
suffer and endure great affliction and you'd never know it. May
God give us such grace to do that. Not to murmur and complain
of our lot in life and then talk about sovereignty. How can we
do that? That's inconsistent. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Is that not so? You that are chastened of God,
pressed hard. I love that hymn by Newton. He
said that, Why would thou pursue thy worm to death? That's how
I feel. I feel at times that God is pressing
this worm out so hard as though He would kill me. But yet I know
this also, that it's for my good. And I should trust His mighty
hand of providence to lead me and guide me in my suffering. And yet there's another type
of suffering which is specific to believers, and it's not a
suffering for sin, it's not a chastening suffering, but rather this is
a rejoicing suffering. This suffering is to be rejoiced
in above all other sufferings, and that is for the gospel of
Christ. To suffer for the gospel. The apostle says, for the witch
cause, also suffer these things. To suffer for the sake of the
gospel is not an option. Did you hear that? Faith is not an option, is it?
Neither is suffering. Suffering for the cause of Christ.
I'll show you this. Go to Philippians. Philippians
chapter 1. Verse 29, read it with me. Let's first start in verse 28.
And in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them
an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that
of God. For unto you it is given in the
behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer
for His sake." Did you see that? It's not only given to you, given
by the grace of God, you who believe. That's a grace given
to you by the blessing of sovereign free mercy. You believe. But it's not only given to you
to believe, but also to suffer for His name's sake. In this suffering there is no
shame. When you suffer because of your
sins, believer, are you ashamed? You bet. You bet I am. Ashamed of my sin. Hate my sin. Despise my sin. And when I suffer
because of my sin, I confess my sin. I turn from it. I turn
to Christ and beg for mercy, forgiveness. And I know I have
it. I have forgiveness when I ask for it. But this I am not ashamed of.
I am not ashamed to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am
not ashamed of it. And you who are ashamed of this
gospel, you are ashamed of this gospel because you hate the Lord
Jesus Christ. There is no other reason. You
have not experienced grace. Therefore, you're ashamed of
grace. But we who have grace are not ashamed of grace. We're
not ashamed of our master. For he has saved us from all
our sins. I'm not ashamed of that. I'm
not ashamed to say that God chose me from eternity. Not ashamed. I'm not ashamed to say that Christ
redeemed me by His precious blood that flowed from the cross. I'm
not ashamed of His cross. And I'm not ashamed of His resurrection.
He rose from the dead for my justification. And is seated
on the throne of God, ruling all things after the counsel
of His own will. I'm not ashamed of Him. You see, He endured my shame. The sin that I am ashamed of,
He bore that shame in His own body on the tree. The Scripture says that God was
not willing to impute our sins to us. He was not willing to
charge my sins to me. He was always willing to charge
them to His Son. And He did. On Calvary's tree,
the God of heaven charged my sin to His blessed, holy Son. And He endured all the wrath
of God that was due my sin. It was so much His own that the
Scripture says that He calls it my sin in Psalm 69. As we are chastened, we are ashamed
of our sin, but we are not ashamed of this Gospel. Believer in Christ,
we are willing partakers of afflictions for this thing, for this Gospel.
Paul says that to Timothy, and just above that he says, Don't
be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me of his prisoner,
but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel. Be thou partaker,
a ready, willing participant to suffer for the gospel of Jesus
Christ, to stand firm for the gospel of Christ. As I mentioned in Sunday School,
the Lord, when he won the victory with Moses, Moses was to raise
his hands and the battle was engaging, and as Moses lifted
his hands, Joshua was victorious. When Moses' hands came down,
the battle went in the opposite direction. So Aaron and Hur lifted
up the hands of Moses, and the victory was won, and they put
a banner there. You know what a banner is? A
banner is a flag that soldiers serve under. And he put a banner
there. And he called it Jehovah Nissi,
the Lord. Our banner. We who are believers
are enlisted under the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ. We serve Him. We honor Him. We glorify Him. He is our King
and our Savior and our God. And His banner over us is what? Love. I have loved Thee with
an everlasting love. How long is that? That's an everlasting
love. It's forever. He's loved us forever. What other reason do we need
to motivate us to serve our Lord and to suffer for His namesake? If we are by grace counted worthy
to suffer for His namesake, the Scripture says, Happy are ye. Does that not go against everything
the flesh says? Does that not go against everything? Suffer, happy. The flesh says pleasure, happy.
That's not true. Suffer, happy. Yes, that's true. Suffer for the gospel of Jesus
Christ and you shall be happy. You'll rejoice. How are we able
to suffer when our Message is evil spoken of. Have you ever
witnessed somebody and someone reject the gospel that you've
preached? That you've declared? Have you been rejected? If you
haven't, you haven't spoken anything. If everybody just loves what
you say, then, man, you're saying it in the wrong way. You're just
not saying it right. How can we endure such rejection
of men? The Apostle says, I've endured
it. And like I told you before, these two men that are mentioned
in verse 15, these were the men that were with Him. These were
men that ministered with Him. He loved them. He served with
them. And then they turned on Him. They left the Gospel. Do you not think He suffered
great affliction when His friends left the ministry, left the Gospel? I tell you what, I've seen many
come in and I've had my heart broken many times because of
the gospel. Have you seen people come in
and go away? Does that not break your heart? Yet, here you are,
still suffering for the cause of Christ. Still suffering for
the gospel's sake. Enduring the rejection of other
men. How are we to endure the mocking
of men that say, where is His coming? Has not all things continued
the way they are since the beginning? Well, no. They haven't continued
the same. But the Lord is not slack concerning
His promises. Some men count slackness. But
His long-suffering dressward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. Be not ashamed of the gospel,
but suffer for the gospel's sake, and all things will be well with
you." Stand for the gospel. Don't compromise the gospel of
God's grace. We who have believed this doctrine
have believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are able to suffer such afflictions
and endure, not because of what we know, but because of who we know. Look at the remedy of suffering.
For which cause I also suffer these things, nevertheless I
am not ashamed, for I know whom. I have believed. Not what I have
believed. If we try to endure the hatred
of men based on what we believe, we are soon to fail. Why? Because our knowledge is not
perfect. Do you know everything? No. If any man thinketh he knoweth
anything, he knoweth nothing as he ought to know. We who are believers in Christ
understand that we see through a glass darkly. And soon it will
be face to face. But we do not know all things. Therefore, we don't lean on what
we know. Rather, we lean completely and
absolutely on who we know. Who we know? Our faith does not rest in what
we know or how much we know. Our faith does not even rest
in our faith or what we understand. But our faith rests in the person
and work of Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed. A believer may stand in the presence
of his enemies without fear if he knows who he has believed.
If we know Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and believe on Him,
then we have great confidence and assurance, for He is both
the author and the object of our faith. If we believe on Jesus Christ,
we must know Him. You who confess to believe, do you know Him? Do you know Jesus Christ? I'm not asking what you know
about Him. The smallest child in here probably
could recite Some of the greatest creeds known to man. But I'm not asking you what you
know, I'm asking who you know. This last week I had a phone
call. Lady having difficulties and great suffering. And she
was going to be baptized, she said. And I asked her a very
simple question. Who is Christ? And she had no
answer. She had no idea who Christ was.
She could recite the same things that everybody can recite. Well,
Jesus came and He's a man. He died for our sins. He rose
again from the dead. She listed all these things and
had no idea who He was. To know Christ. is to have the Son of God revealed
to you. It is a revelation. It's a miracle. It's not an academic exercise. It is a knowledge of a person. If you were to write a book about
my wife, you could not tell me anything I did not know. But I'll tell you what, you'll
never know her like I do. I know her. If someone were to come up to
me and say, you know, I know Cheryl. Really? That's great. Could you describe her to me?
Sure. She's redheaded and she's about 600 pounds and she's got
freckles and then... No, that's not her. Oh, yes,
it is. Her name is Cheryl. No, that's
not her. I know my wife. Same thing is
true about Christ. When men start coming to us and
saying, I know Jesus. Okay, tell me about it. Well,
He came into the world to die for every man, woman, boy and
girl. I don't know who that is. I'm
sorry, I don't know who that is. Jesus loves everybody without
exception. I have no idea who that is. I'm
sorry, we're talking about two different people. That's not
whom I know. That's not whom I believe. You
see, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, true enough.
But the sinners He came to save were the ones given to Him by
the Father. I know that because I know Him. I know this, that
Jesus Christ is a successful Savior. that when He died, He
actually took away all the sins of His people. All the sins of
God's elect were taken away, removed. He was a successful Savior. I know this, He's God and man. There's no one that can understand
the sufferings of man like Christ. I know that Jesus Christ is the
Son of God. Do you? I'm not talking about
in your head, do you know Him? Because to know Him is to have
life. And if you don't have Him, You
don't have life. He that hath the Son of God hath
life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. Is that plain? Is that simple? The Scriptures are very plain.
There's no mincing words here. Do you know Him? Do you believe
Him? Then blessed are you For flesh
and blood hath not revealed this to thee, but my Father which
is in heaven." If you believe on Christ, it
is a miracle, not anything less. It is a resurrection of the soul. It is a work of God alone. Do you know Him? Do you believe on Him? Then what suffering could we
not endure? What suffering could we not endure? He's taken away our sins. He's made us acceptable to God. He's given us His righteousness
and peace. What else do you need? To sustain
you in your troubles. Jesus Christ is the remedy for
suffering. He is the complete remedy. Lean hard on Him and He will
not fail you. I pray that God will bless this
to your hearts. And I desire to know Him more. You know, I
know Him, but I want to know Him more. The Apostle said that.
He said that I may know Him. That I may be found in His righteousness
and not my own. I seek that. I seek to know Him
more. I'll tell you, if a person doesn't
seek to know Him at all, it's because they don't know Him. They don't know Him. May God,
the Holy Spirit, give you an understanding of who He is, that
you might believe and be saved. Salvation, what a wonderful word
that is, isn't it? You who are saved, is that not
a great word? It is the best word. It is a wonderful word. I'm thankful for the Lord Jesus
to reveal Himself to me.