Wednesday Dec 07, 2016

Chapter 7: The Suffering of God

Eastside Baptist Church, Winfield, Alabama

Biblical Expository Preaching and Teaching

Listen on:

“When God’s Plan Comes Together” (Genesis 41:1–57)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday PM, October 23, 2016
Genesis 41:1–57 (NIV)

41 When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, 2 when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. 3 After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. 4 And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up.
5 He fell asleep again and had a second dream: Seven heads of grain, healthy and good, were growing on a single stalk. 6 After them, seven other heads of grain sprouted—thin and scorched by the east wind. 7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
8 In the morning his mind was troubled, so he sent for all the magicians and wise men of Egypt. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but no one could interpret them for him.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “Today I am reminded of my shortcomings. 10 Pharaoh was once angry with his servants, and he imprisoned me and the chief baker in the house of the captain of the guard. 11 Each of us had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. 12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams, and he interpreted them for us, giving each man the interpretation of his dream. 13 And things turned out exactly as he interpreted them to us: I was restored to my position, and the other man was impaled.”
14 So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.
15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream, and no one can interpret it. But I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
16 “I cannot do it,” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.”
17 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile, 18 when out of the river there came up seven cows, fat and sleek, and they grazed among the reeds. 19 After them, seven other cows came up—scrawny and very ugly and lean. I had never seen such ugly cows in all the land of Egypt. 20 The lean, ugly cows ate up the seven fat cows that came up first. 21 But even after they ate them, no one could tell that they had done so; they looked just as ugly as before. Then I woke up.
22 “In my dream I saw seven heads of grain, full and good, growing on a single stalk. 23 After them, seven other heads sprouted—withered and thin and scorched by the east wind. 24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads. I told this to the magicians, but none of them could explain it to me.”
25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. 26 The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. 27 The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine.
28 “It is just as I said to Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. 29 Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, 30 but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. 31 The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe. 32 The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon.
33 “And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. 34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”
37 The plan seemed good to Pharaoh and to all his officials. 38 So Pharaoh asked them, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom is the spirit of God?”
39 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. 40 You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.”
41 So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and people shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
44 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt.
46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh’s presence and traveled throughout Egypt. 47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. 48 Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it. 49 Joseph stored up huge quantities of grain, like the sand of the sea; it was so much that he stopped keeping records because it was beyond measure.
50 Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said, “It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 The second son he named Ephraim and said, “It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”
53 The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food. 55 When all Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried to Pharaoh for food. Then Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you.”
56 When the famine had spread over the whole country, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold grain to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe throughout Egypt. 57 And all the world came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because the famine was severe everywhere.
1. God will accomplish his plan when he wishes and with whom he wishes (1–7).
2. God’s plan doesn’t happen all at once, but progressively unfolds in a multitude of smaller, less significant events (8–13).
3. As God is accomplishing his plan and you are faithfully using your abilities wherever you are today, take every opportunity to give God the glory (14–24).
4. Whenever God’s providence provides us with opportunities for blessing or for service, we should step out in faith to take advantage of them (25–40).
5. When God desires to bless his people and his plan comes together, it will surpass all expectation and hope (41–57).
The main idea of this passage is:
As God is bringing his providential plan together in his time and his way, at each stage of the journey let us remain faithful, eager to serve, taking advantage of every opportunity. And when God blesses us abundantly beyond what we deserve, let us be sure to give God all the glory.

Sunday Oct 23, 2016

“The God of Compassion”

Sunday Oct 23, 2016

“The God of Compassion” (Jonah 3:1–10)
Pastor Cameron Jungels
Eastside Baptist Church
Sunday AM, October 26, 2016

Jonah 3:1–10 (NIV)
3 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:
“By the decree of the king and his nobles:
Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”
10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

The three words that sum up the message of Jonah 3 are condemnation, repentance, and compassion.

1. God gives Jonah a message of condemnation.

2. The people of Nineveh repent.

3. God showed compassion to the repentant Ninevites.

Main Idea: God had mercy on us, though we deserved condemnation; may we be his messengers of mercy to others who are in danger of condemnation.

Wednesday Oct 19, 2016

Wednesday Oct 12, 2016

Walking with God through Pain and Suffering
by Tim Keller

Chapter 2: “The Victory of Christianity”

Philosophy to “Save One’s Skin”
•       One of the most important tasks of any philosophy or religion is to teach us how to face death.
•       One of our greatest desires is to be loved and not be alone. So, we dread dying and our loved ones dying on us.
•       We fear the slow march of time and the irreversibility of things.
•       To live life well, capable of joy and love, we must learn how to conquer these fears.
•       We must locate a meaning that can’t be touched by death. This can be done only by philosophy or religion.

Salvation through Reason
•       The Greek Stoics believed in an impersonal “Logos” or rational orderliness that governed the universe.
•       Moral“absolutes” could be rationally deduced from the natural world.
•       The task of the human mind and reason was to perceive and align with the orderliness of the world.
•       Face Death and Suffering:
o  Live in accord with the universe and accept fate.
o  Reason over emotion.
o  Death is not the end, but a transformation to a new form.

Submitting to Fate, Detaching from the World
•       Cicero/Seneca(Stoics) taught that death is not an evil thing and should not be feared.
•       Grief is unavoidable, but it should be controlled. Ultimately, sorrow and grief are useless,with no positive function.
•       Submit to fate and not protest or struggle against it.
•       Stoicism similar to Eastern philosophies that taught the illusory nature of reality.
o  No real evil or suffering
o  No real individuals or material world
o  Everything is actually a part of “the One, the Absolute Spirit”
•       Stoicism and Eastern philosophies similar in that they diminish the individuality of the person and speak of an eternal existence, though not individual or personal.
•       Their solution is to see everything as impermanent. Don’t get attached to anything. Don’t live in hope. Hope causes suffering.

A Greater Hope
•       Christianity differed greatly from both Greek and Eastern philosophies.
•       Early Christian teachers argued that Christianity made more sense of suffering.The actual lives of Christians proved it. Christians suffered better than the pagans.
•       Augustine made the argument that Christians suffered and died better and that this made Christianity“the supreme philosophy”
•       The Christian approach to pain and evil was superior because it offered a greater basis for hope.
•       It offered the hope of bodily resurrection and a restored world.
•       The resurrection meant that we would live in eternity as individual persons, not impersonal aspects of the universe.
•       Our personalities will be sustained, beautified, and perfected after death in resurrection, and we will know and be known.
•       The“Logos” of the universe is not an impersonal, rational orderliness, but a person—Jesus Christ—who can be loved and known.

A Greater Room for Sorrow
•       Christian consolation gave far more scope to expressions of sorrow and grief.
•       Christians can truly grieve and sorrow, but bathed in hope.
•       Suffering is not dealt with through self-control and detachment but through relationship and hope.
•       Christians don’t face adversity by stoically decreasing our love for the people and things of this world so much as by increasing our love and joy in God.
•       Only when our greatest love is God, a love that we cannot lose even in death, can we face all things with peace.
•       Christianity strongly rejected impersonal fate along with its randomness and chance.
•       Christianity believes in a single, personal Creator God who sustains the world in wisdom and love and provides fatherly care for his children.

The Victory of Christianity
•       Christianity eventually became the dominant worldview in Western civilization for nearly 1500 years.
•       The Christian doctrines of resurrection and future restoration remedied “irreversibility as a kind of death in the midst of life.”
•       The Christian’s future hope was real and personal, bodily and eternal. It was a restoration of life.
•       Christian teachers and preachers developed a mature and nuanced theology of suffering and counsel for the “cure” of suffering souls.
•       Gregory the Great taught that suffers were in the hands of a wise God.
•       He rejected the moralistic view of Eastern philosophies (and Job’s friends)that suffering is directly linked to our sins. Suffering in general is because of human sin, but its role is more complex than a simple moralistic explanation.
•       Particular forms of suffering may be God’s chastisement for specific sins, but they may not be.
•       Suffering may also be intended not to correct or punish past wrongs but to prevent future ones.
•       Suffering may have no other purpose than to lead a person to love God more ardently.

Luther’s Reformation of Suffering
•       The Medieval church over time developed a moralistic, meritorious view of suffering.
•       Accepting suffering with patience can eliminate some of your sin debt and helps you earn favor with God and admission to heaven.
•       Martin Luther and the Reformation sought to correct this theological error.
•       Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone merited by the finished work of Christ alone.
•       Before we can have the joy and love that helps us face suffering, suffering must first empty us of our pride and self-sufficiency leading us to find our true security in Christ.

The Theology of the Cross
•       “Theology of the cross” vs. a “theology of glory.”
•       The Gospel presents the exact opposite of what human beings expect. God comes in Christ to save not in power and glory but in weakness and humility and suffering.
•       Only through weakness and suffering could sin be atoned.
•       In Christ, the God-forsaken sinner has a Savior who has taken on himself the full depths of human estrangement from God—and overcome it.
•       Christians cannot suffer with Christ before they have embraced the full benefits of Christ’s suffering for them.

The Rise of the “Immanent Frame”
•       Enlightenment philosophy with its emphasis on the rational and scientific replaced the transcendent with the immanent.
•       Humanity’s answers no longer came from outside themselves, from a transcendent God, but from inside themselves by reason.
•       This brought increasing confidence in human ability and reason and moral ordering.
•       God was altered by Deists and was now an impersonal creator, designer who created the world for our benefit that now operates on its own without his direct involvement.
•       Humanity’s purpose became to use reason and free will for human flourishing,pushing God to the edges.

Natural Evil and the Lisbon Earthquake
•       With the new immanent view of God, natural evil and suffering became increasingly an argument against the existence of God.
•       The secularity of Deism made the problem of evil worse by making us more proud in our ability to reason and by making the world about us instead of about God.

Residual Christianity and the Problem of Evil
•       Christianity in Western culture as unwittingly been influenced by Deism and the“immanent frame.”
•       We now live in a culture (even in many churches) of “moralistic, therapeutic deism.”
•       We are in control of our own destiny, able to discern for ourselves what is right and wrong,and we see God as obligated to arrange things for our benefit, especially if we live a good enough life according to our chosen standards.
•       Theism without certainty of salvation or resurrection is far more disillusioning in the midst of pain than is atheism.