Horatio Spafford was a very wealthy man. He was a very well-known lawyer in Chicago. He had a beautiful Scandinavian wife named Anna and they had a son and four daughters. Even though Horatio was a lawyer, he made most of his money as a real estate investor. By the late 1800s, he owned much of Chicago’s most valuable real estate. But then tragedy struck. Horatio and Anna’s son contracted scarlet fever and died. I have never lost a child, and I can’t even imagine the grief that would come with it. Horatio, Anna and the girls were devastated. Then, just a couple of years later, on October 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city. Horatio and Anna and the girls watched nearly everything they had go up in smoke. Still devastated by the loss of their son, the fire sent them into an emotional tailspin. Horatio was frantically working to rebuild his family’s income and Anna and the girls were working to keep things together at home. They were all depressed and overworked on top of it. After two years of that kind of emotional deterioration, Horatio’s good friend D.L. Moody noticed and suggested that they take a vacation. Of course, Moody was a great evangelist and was preaching a series of meetings in England. He suggested that the Spafford family come and join him while he was over there. Horatio had a few loose ends to tie up before he could go, so he sent his wife and daughters on ahead—he would catch up with them in a few days. 136 years ago last Sunday, while crossing the Atlantic, the steamship Ville du Havre was struck by an iron sailing vessel. 226 people drowned, including Little Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tannetta Spafford. Anna was one of the few survivors. When she arrived in England, she sent Horatio a telegram with only two words—“saved alone”. He immediately booked passage on the next available ship to England. That ship followed the exact same route as the Ville du Havre. The ship’s captain told Horatio as it passed over the scene where his four daughters had died. At that moment, he went back to his cabin and wrote the words you will find on page 410 in your hymn book. Take out your hymn book and turn to page 410. Follow along as I read.
HYMN 410
We would hope that things would have gotten better for the Spaffords, but they didn’t. In the years following the tragedy of the shipwreck, they had three more children—two girls and a boy. In 1880, little Horatio died of pneumonia at the age of four. But through all of that, the Spaffords never lost their faith. They struggled. They questioned. But they held fast to the belief that, “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.” Just a year and a half after little Horatio died, the family moved from Chicago to Jerusalem and started a Christian community there. It grew into a tremendous mercy ministry that helped the local people through difficult times of famine and even up through WWI. Hundreds of thousands of lives were saved and I’m sure that countless souls were saved through their ministry. Let alone the countless lives that are touched by that wonderful hymn. All of which were born out of the terrible womb of suffering. Over the past three weeks we have been looking at suffering. First, we looked at some of the foundational, doctrinal issues as we looked at the Source of Suffering and the Purpose in Suffering. Then Sunday before last, we looked at how to apply those things when we see others around us suffering. Tonight, we’re going to get personal. Tonight we’re going to bring it all home. Tonight we’re going to talk about how to deal with it when we are the ones who are suffering. And we’re going to do that by talking about five things you need to see when you are suffering. The first thing you need to see is your Savior. You need to see your Savior for who He is. Look back at verses 1-2:
JOB 42:1-2
You need to see your Savior for who He is. Notice that I didn’t say, for what He’s done. Because when you’re in the middle of terrible suffering, sometimes that can be hard to see. After Job lost all of his financial well-being, it would be hard to count his blessings. After he lost all of his children, it would be hard to count his blessings. After he lost his health and the emotional support of his wife and friends, it would be hard to count his blessings. Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar gave some really bad counsel, but at least they never told Job to overlook his situation and count his blessings. The Bible spends a lot of time talking about the things that God does. But it spends a whole lot more time talking about who He is. And even when the Bible talks about the things God does, the focus is always pointing to who He is. And how wonderful that is. Because, when we are suffering, most of the time, we can’t see beyond our immediate circumstances. They block our view to other blessings we have in our lives. But when we truly understand the Gospel, no matter how big our suffering might be, it can never block our view of WHO Jesus is. Job had just gotten four chapter’s worth of earful from God about who He is. He spoke of His hand in all of the things that Job could see and couldn’t understand. He spoke of His creation and guidance of everything from stars and galaxies to crazy ostriches that nobody can really understand their behavior. And as God was reviewing all of that stuff before Job, Job came to one conclusion—you’re God. Verse 2: You can do everything. And you know everything. God you are in control. I don’t have to understand it. I just have to trust it. And I can trust it, because I can trust You. Remember that Job had done that early on before he got off track. In 1:21, he cast himself on the sovereignty of God. He said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” And then later on in 2:10, he did the same thing. He told his wife, “What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?” We’ve talked about this before, but I want you to notice something again. In both those cases, who is Job saying caused His suffering? He’s saying that God did. He said, “the Lord gave and the Lord took away.” He said, “shall we receive good things from God and not bad things from Him.” And in both of those cases, Scripture makes it clear that Job didn’t sin in the words that he said. In other words, he didn’t falsely accuse God of being in complete control. He got that right. When you are going through a time of suffering, see your Savior for who He is. He is in control. Don’t try to “rescue” Him by blaming your suffering on something else. He is in control. Your suffering hasn’t caught Him by surprise. Somehow, someway, it is all part of His infinite plan. And because God is in complete control, you can know that somehow, someway He will work it all together for good. Because that’s what He’s promised. When you are suffering, you need to see your Savior for who He is. You also need to see your suffering for what it is. Look at verse 3:
JOB 42:3
When you are suffering, you need to see your suffering for what it is. In the first part of this verse, Job repeats the question that God asked him when He first spoke to him out of the whirlwind back in 38:2. God first asked the question in 38:2, Job repeats it here in verse 3: “God, You said, ‘Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge?’” Then Job answers God’s question—“God, I have spoken without knowing what I was talking about. “All of this time that I was talking about my suffering, I didn’t know what I was talking about. “I didn’t know what I was talking about because I didn’t really know who You are. “And I certainly didn’t know what your purpose in my suffering is.” “God, I knew not.” Job saw his suffering as unjust. He saw his suffering as an affront to his character. As we move through the book, he even began to see his suffering as a fault in God’s nature. Job saw his suffering as unjust and therefore God must be unjust and needed to answer for Himself—that was the direction he moved throughout the book. Job saw his suffering all wrong. Which is the way that we tend to see our suffering. Many times we see it as an opportunity to lose faith or to blame Satan. But in reality, God has ordained suffering. James 1:2-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Suffering is ordained by God as a test. God’s sole desire is for us to pass the test. Satan’s sole desire is for us to fail the test. When we pass the test, what does it do? It grows our faith. It grows our faith, because when the test is laid before us, we know that we can’t pass it by ourselves. That’s why small tests don’t grow our faith as much as big ones. When something small comes up, I have a tendency to think that I can handle it myself. But when something puts me flat on my back—physically or emotionally—I know that I can’t handle it. I have to trust in Jesus to bring me through it. Suffering is a test to grow our faith. It’s also a test to grow our witness. You’ve heard me say it many times. Nothing shows the Gospel more effectively than a saint who suffers well. Throughout history, the times of greatest church growth have been during times of persecution and tribulation. Tertullian said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. And the reason that he said that was because he saw it. He saw how many hundreds of people were saved as they watched the faithful testimony of a Christian who was burned at the stake. And that’s not just a history lesson. The same thing happens today all over the world. But not only all over the world, it happens right here. When God calls you to suffer, and you suffer well, you will be 1000 times the Christian witness than a person who has everything going for them. Because the world is looking for peace and contentment. And anybody can be content when they have everything going for them. But when someone is content in Christ, even in the middle of suffering, that is special. That is something that people want. That is a powerful witness. Suffering is a test to grow our faith. Suffering is a test to grow our witness. And suffering is a test to grow our worship. After Job lost everything, he eventually turned to the only place he could turn. Verse 3 says that he understood not—things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Throughout all of his suffering, he caught a glimpse of who God is. And as he did, it drove him to worship. It drove him to one of the most spectacular moments of worship in all of the Bible. In Job 19:25-27 he said, “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” It is in those moments when suffering becomes sweet. When through the pain and misery, a person looks beyond their present circumstances and praises God. Paul did it in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18. He wrote: “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish [lit: is decaying], yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Paul’s suffering became worship. When you are suffering, you need to see your suffering for what it is. See it as a test to grow your faith. See it as a test to grow your witness. And see it as a test to grow your worship. But you not only need to see your suffering for what it is, you need to see yourself for who you are. Look at verses 4-6:
JOB 42:4-6
When you are suffering, see yourself for who you are. Just like he did back in verse 2, in verse 4 Job repeats what God has said to him. This time, it’s from 38:3 or 40:7. He just conveniently left off the part where God tells him to gird up his loins like a man. Now, after hearing all that God had to say, Job had only one option left. And he came to that option in verse 6. When he saw God for who He is, he saw himself in light of who God is. And when we truly see ourselves in light of who God is, it shows us our sin. That’s what it showed Job. And when Job saw his sin, he repented. Now, understand that Job’s sin wasn’t caused by his sin. His sin came as a result of his response to his suffering. His sin was in accusing God and charging Him with injustice. But the fact remains that his suffering brought that latent sin to the surface. Suffering isn’t always a direct result of our sin—it wasn’t in Job’s case. But many times it is. Even though God is in control and He ordains suffering as a test, sometimes our suffering is as a result of our sin. So one of our first reactions to suffering should be the reaction of the Psalmist in Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Sometimes the Lord just needs to get our attention, doesn’t He? If we are heading down a path that we shouldn’t, He will correct us. First by conviction—whether the conviction comes from our conscience, or His Word, or the church. But then what happens when we don’t listen to any of those? Does the Lord give up on us? Thank God He doesn’t! Hebrews 12:5-11 says, “And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” You know what that’s saying? It’s not fun to get a whipping. But when we mess up, sometimes the Lord has to give us a whipping. And he whips us because He loves us and knows what’s best for us. Sometimes suffering is our whipping. Not all the time—sometimes. So it’s always a good idea, when suffering comes, to check your heart. Job did. As a matter of fact, that was one of the first things he did. In 6:10 he said, “Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed [denied] the words of the Holy One.” He spent 7 days in silence, examining his heart, and now was able to say that he had never denied the Word of God. Do we do that when we suffer? Do we use it as an opportunity to examine our heart? To examine our reflection in the mirror of God’s Word? To confess sin? To begin the process of repentance? To conform to the image and likeness of Christ? Job examined his heart early on and it was blameless. But throughout his suffering, he failed to continually examine his heart. Finally, when God spoke, he examined his heart again and found it in need of repentance. So he did. He began the process in 40:3-5 and fully came to repentance in the verses we just read. He finally saw himself for who he was. When you suffer, you should: See your Savior for who He is. You should see your suffering for what it is. And you should see yourself for who you are.
But do you know the only way that you can do that? The only way that you can do that is if you see your salvation for all it’s worth. That means that you understand the difference between sinless and blameless. Job seemed to understand that in the beginning, but messed it up as he went along. You see, if Jesus has saved you, you are blameless. Just like Job was able to say that he was blameless and not be lying, you can say the same thing. You are blameless because Jesus has taken your blame. He willingly accepted the punishment for all of your sin. Past, present and future sin is all paid for. Under the blood of Christ, no one can lay any charge against God’s elect. Those who are in Christ stand faultless and blameless before the throne. But does that mean we are sinless? The Apostle John wrote 1 John to Christians. This is what he wrote in verse 8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth of God is not in us.” Notice the pronoun that he used. The Apostle John—the one whom Jesus loved—said, “we”. Yes, we Christians still sin. We are blameless, but we are not sinless. The difference should be that we hate our sin. Job understood his blamelessness. He forgot about his sinfulness. And in the end, he denied it and began to justify it by elevating his own righteousness above God’s. that’s why he had to repent, even though he was still blameless before God. And that’s why John went on to write the next verse in 1 John. 4:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” See your salvation for all it’s worth by understanding the difference between sinlessness and blamelessness. Also see your salvation for all its worth by realizing your hope. Throughout all of his struggles, Job never forgot one thing. Even when he began to accuse God, he never forgot his final hope. In 14:14 Job said, “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.” He knew that one day, he would be changed. Whatever his body and mind and emotions were going through, his hope was the same as Paul’s. He knew that however bad it was, it was but a “momentary light affliction” compared with the glorious eternity that awaited him. He knew that his Redeemer lives. He knew that even though maggots were eating his flesh, that he was going to get a new body. He knew that he would see God with his very own eyes. Not ghost eyes. Not angel eyes. His very own eyes. Job understood the same hope that Paul did when he wrote 1 Corinthians 15:50-57: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
There is a part of me that wants to say that I hope none of us have to suffer. And it is certainly not something that we should desire. But I think that the more biblical thing is to pray that when you are tested with suffering, that you suffer well. I want you to see your Savior for who He is. See Him as sovereign. See Him as completely in control and working His plan together for good. I pray that you see your suffering for what it is. See it as a test to grow your faith. See it as a test to grow your witness. And see it as a test to grow your worship. And I pray that you see yourself for who you are. See it as an opportunity to check your heart. Confess your sin. Be purified by the fire. But more than that, I pray that you see your salvation for all it’s worth. See that, even though you sin, if you are saved, you are blameless before the throne of God. And see that you have an eternal hope of a new and glorified body. And a home prepared for you in a land where there is no suffering. A home in the presence of your living Redeemer, whom you will see with your very own eyes. That is my prayer for you tonight.
