[Statements in brackets are for the preacher not the preaching. They are notes that reflect ideas based on the homiletics recommended in "Preach with No Pants" (https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/preach-with-no-pants-john-allen-sermon-on-inductive-250167) which proposes an inductive-deductive five-point outline: Trip, Tension, Twist, Truth, Triumph.]
[EXEGETICAL IDEA: The supreme purpose of Paul's life was to make Christ known and bring believers to maturity.]
[HOMILETICAL IDEAS
Knowing Jesus is the supreme purpose of your life.
Make knowing Jesus the supreme purpose of your life.
Knowing Jesus is the supreme purpose of your life and makes even pain have a purpose.
Knowing Jesus gives purpose to the troubles of life.
Knowing Jesus gives purpose to the suffering in life.
Making Jesus supreme in your life makes even pain serve a purpose.
Knowing Jesus as our life's purpose makes even pain have a purpose.
]
[TWIST
Jesus is worth suffering for.
Knowing Jesus is worth suffering for.
Pain is good if you have the right purpose in life.
No other purpose than knowing Jesus gives purpose to the trouble and suffering of life.
]
[OUTLINE]
[Trip — Upset: Life is full of pain not purpose.]
Jesus said one of the most disturbing things we don't want to hear. "In this world you have trouble and suffering" (NET). That's in John 16:33. Years ago I remember people associated with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association using this question to have significant spiritual conversations. "What's your problem?"
Philip Yancy in his book, "Where Is God When It Hurts" spends significant time telling us how valuable pain is. He does this by talking about the big danger of leprosy: not feeling an injury and not treating it before it kills you.
But the worst thing about pain is: It's painful. No matter how much good it may do you, it hurts! How can a loving God want us to hurt so much? Think of how painful a tiny, little paper cut is. Think of the heavy loads of emotional pain we drag through the day into the long night hours.
[Tension — Provoking the Questions, Opposites of the Truth]
[1:24]
How does your life measure up? How do the happy days and painful days balance out? How much pain have other people caused you? How about all those destructive events that are beyond your control? The Bible tells us not to worry but to be thankful in all things. On the contrary, we worry in all things and aren't thankful for anything. We stuff our thanksgiving into one day of the year but even then focus more on stuffing ourselves with turkey.
[1:25-26]
Often the pain is mental and emotional. Severed relationships hurt worse than those paper cuts. Money troubles hurt worse than stomach troubles. Job stress can be worse than the stress of growing old and ill.
What's worse, those mental-emotional pains seep like acid into our spiritual lives. We feel like God doesn't really know what's going on, either that or he just doesn't care. So we feel alienated from that loving God, and our lives filled with epic emptiness instead of the abundant life Jesus promised. Our lives begin to have no meaning beyond surviving each day in the least uncomfortable way possible.
[1:27-28]
To be honest with ourselves, our life may be very little different from an unbeliever's life. If someone secretly observed your life for three days, what would they see? Unbelievers are focused on having fun, or on having stuff or on their social status. And so do we.
[Twist — The Most Startling Idea
Jesus is worth suffering for.
Knowing Jesus is worth suffering for.
Pain is good if you have the right purpose in life.
No other purpose than knowing Jesus gives purpose to the trouble and suffering of life.
Since we can't eliminate suffering in this life, we have to make it worthwhile.
]
But we have a much higher purpose than pleasure, possessions, or prestige. We have a purpose worth living for and even suffering for. Some things are worth suffering for. We get up and go to work each day for a paycheck. It's worth it...usually. Can you imagine a person saying, "I'm planning to win an Olympic gold medal. But I don't train because that just hurts too much."
Since we can't eliminate suffering in this life, we must figure out how to make it worthwhile.
[Truth — Preaching the Bible's Solution]
In Colossians Paul actually said, "I rejoice in my sufferings"! How could he say that? Have you ever been happy for suffering? Look at Colossians 1:24-26.
First, he owned the highest purpose in life, God's purpose for him, "a servant of the church" because God had personally called him to that ministry. God somehow used Paul's suffering to advance his kingdom.
Now you didn't get marching orders like Paul. However, God has made you like no one else and put you in a life that no one else can fill. His purpose for you is to live a life that demonstrates to everyone what Christ would talk like and act like. Every little word or act of kindness ripples through the lives of people around you, like a stone dropped in a lake ripples toward the other shore. Sometimes we even have the opportunity to talk to someone about God. And like the Atheist-turned-Christian, Les Strobel, said, "That's like breathing carbonated air!"
You glorify God by sticking to God. That's just what Job did. Even with all of his questions and challenges, he stayed in the ring. He took everything Satan could hit him with, and he still gripped his allegiance to God. Not everyone does that. Many give up on God when the going gets tough.
By the way, we have here one of the most controversial statements in the Bible. How do we explain verse 24? Does Jesus need Paul's suffering to complete his suffering for salvation? No! Do not even begin to imagine Jesus' suffering on the cross was incomplete. When he said, "It is finished," it meant he had totally, fully, entirely, utterly, completely, absolutely finished that horrible work of salvation on the cross. Nothing, nothing more could be done!
There are at least four interpretations of this statement. We won't cover them. But there are two key considerations. First, the Greek word here ('thlipseon') is never used of the atoning work of Christ. It's a different kind of suffering. Second, almost contradicting that is that these are said to be not Paul's but Christ's afflictions. The best understanding is that Jesus shares our sufferings. In fact, that's exactly what Jesus told Paul on the road to Damascus!
"He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?'" (Acts 9:4 ©NET).
Have you ever thought that when you hurt, Jesus hurts with you? You may be suffering physically or financially. Maybe someone has ridiculed you or rejected you because you are godly. Jesus hurts with you. "For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. 4:15 NET).
Now, what about your grand goal in life that makes suffering worthwhile? The rest of the verses map out the highest goal and effort of our lives on Planet Earth.
In verses 25-27 we see the priority of the word of God. The better you know the Bible, the better you can know God. The Bible reveals truth to us that is a mystery to unbelievers. And what is the biggest mystery in the Bible? What's the best mystery? It is Christ Jesus himself. Look how he is to us "glorious riches"! Is he glorious to you? Is he riches to you? He is infinite love, our deepest joy and happiness. He is peace. He is patient, kind, and gentle toward us in spite of the fact that we fully deserve his judgment. So as verse 27 says, Jesus is our hope of the glory of everlasting life in heaven.
Can you put a dollar value on those things? Let's take just one thing, depression versus peace. In 2021 "PharmacoEconomics" published the results of a 30-year research program (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/depression-cost-the-us-326-billion-per-year-pre-pandemic-a-38-increase-since-2010-301284172.html). They said the cost of depression was $326 billion! (You could buy 32,600 $10 million homes!)
It's worth pursuing Jesus instead of money or the job, or stuff or entertainment or even family. Jesus never lets us down. Jesus never stop loving us. Jesus never condemns us. Jesus never rejects us. Jesus never gives up on us. He is a treasure that makes a billion dollar treasure chest of depression disappear.
Now you might be saying, "Okay, I'll pursue Christ. But I don't know how? I don't know what do I do?" Look at verse 28. You need to read, study, and memorize your Bible. You need to learn with other believers more about Jesus like the old hymn.
More, more about Jesus,
More, more about Jesus;
More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me.
Verse 3
More about Jesus in His Word,
Holding communion with my Lord;
Hearing His voice in ev'ry line,
Making each faithful saying mine.
And let me recommend something that has helped me as I read my Bible. Think about his feelings. Remember that God is a real person like we are but so much greater.
For example, think about his feelings at the end of six days when "God saw all that he had made--and it was very good (Gen. 1:31). Look at the flowers and the tropical fish. We have to say God enjoys creating. He was happy with what he had created. Then think about his feelings when he walked into the Garden one day and found Adam and Eve hiding from him. Think about God the Father sacrificing his one dear Son like Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac. But then at the end of the Bible (Rev. 21) when the Apostle John saw the new heaven and earth, the one seated on the throne says, paraphrasing, "Hey, John, look! I'm making everything new again! Come on, write that down."
Working for that abundant life, for the glorious treasure of an intimate relationship with Jesus is hard, much harder than watching TV. But remember the athlete. The prize, Jesus, is worth the effort. You need to work like Paul in verse 29: Labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully works in you! The NLT says, "That's why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ's mighty power that works in me." So isn't Jesus worth spending at least a fraction of Paul's effort? Doesn't Jesus deserve that for what he did for you? Won't the "glorious riches" be worth it? Absolutely, yes!
Besides thinking about God's emotions, let me touch on one objection to the study of the Bible. It is hard thinking and most of us just don't want to harness our brain to such a plow. Here is something to make it easy. It's called the "Discovery Bible Study" process. Ask these questions of the passage, whether on your own or in a small group.
1. What does it say? Retell it in your own words.
2. What does it mean? (What does it say about God? What does it say about people?)
3. What will I do?
4. Who can I tell?
Write down your thoughts in a journal or notebook. I promise, you will soon be enjoying many "glorious riches" of Christ.
[Triumph—The Nugget of Truth]
There's a story of a poor widow that a Mary Jane Walker (the wife of a London pastor) made into a poem in 1850 or 60.
In the heart of London City,
Midst the dwellings of the poor,
These bright golden words were uttered,
“I have Christ! What want I more?”
By a lonely dying woman,
Stretched on the attic floor,
Having not one earthly comfort,
"I have Christ! what want I more?”
He who heard them, ran to fetch her
Something from the world’s great store,
It was useless — she died, saying,
“I have Christ! what want I more?”
But her words will live forever—
I repeat them o’er and o’er,
God delights to hear me saying,
“I have Christ! what want I more?”
Someone is worth suffering for and even dying for.
