No Pain, No Gain
Leave the past and move into the future!
Thesis: Life is not without pain but even though we go through painful experiences God can take them and use them for a great gain in our life.
Text: I Peter 1:1-9
1 Peter 1:1 (NIV)
1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
1 Peter 1:2 (NIV)
2who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
1 Peter 1:3 (NIV)
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1 Peter 1:4 (NIV)
4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you,
1 Peter 1:5 (NIV)
5who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:6 (NIV)
6In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
1 Peter 1:7 (NIV)
7These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
1 Peter 1:8 (NIV)
8Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
1 Peter 1:9 (NIV)
9for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
Romans 5:3,4
Romans 5:3 (NIV)
3Not only so, but we£ also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
Romans 5:4 (NIV)
4perseverance, character; and character, hope.
Introduction:
We are currently on the brink of entering a new year 2001. Many of us have gone through various trials over the past year and beyond. We are here tonight to seek the Lord and to be encouraged as we push forward into this new year. Some of you have been planning out your New Years resolution others just want this year to be over with. Some are excited about the future and some just are not sure they can press on.
Maycinik states, "Am I going to make it? Can I stay true to Jesus? Sooner or later, each of us wonders. Some of us ask these three questions when a trusted spiritual leader turns his back on the Lord. It scares us. If he didn’t have what it takes, how can I expect to finish strong? Or we begin to wonder when the trials come hard and fast, and our strength is almost gone. How much longer can I hang on? Our commitment may waver when the child dies, or a spouse leaves, or a ministry crumbles in a tangle of betrayal and strife. When good prayers-prayer for healing, for protection, for provision-go unanswered, we may be tempted to give up" (42).
Today I want to talk about the importance of putting the past behind and moving into the future. But the only way we can do this is through getting a proper perspective on how to handle pain, trials, tribulations and suffering. So tonight we are going to learn the truth that if you never experience pain then you will never experience gain.
The Body builders motto, "No Pain No Gain!" Body builders accept the fact that to build up their bodies they must first endure the pain of workouts. They must tear down the muscle tissue so it will rebuild and become stronger. So it is in the spiritual developmental process. You have to learn to press through the workout to get the benefit physically. The same principle applies to spiritual fitness. Do you want stronger spiritual muscles? If your answer is yes! Then you need to endure the painful workout for a season and accept it as part of spiritual body building.
We must remember that hard times come from living in a fallen world but God promises to help us through. So first of all learn not to blame God for evil.
Illustration: Preaching Today "Evil isn’t God’s fault!"
Yes, evil has infiltrated the world we live in, that’s reality! With evil and sinfulness abounding comes the condition of a world with pain and suffering. Jesus endured the suffering and we will have to also but remember that Jesus pain gave us great gain. So be encouraged that when we suffer in pain -when we go through our spiritual workout- be encouraged because at the other end is personal gain.
I. The path of pain with Christ in our life always leads to personal gain.
a. So you ask, "How do I handle pain?"
i. Get a new perspective on pain and suffering- Look at it like Peter and Paul.
1. I Peter 1:1-9 and especially 6,7
a. He opens the book with an attitude of "Singing in the Pain" (31, Chew).
b. He tells the churches and all Christians "greatly rejoice in your suffering and pain, your trial or tribulation".
c. He tells us to consider trials a test of your faith.
d. Then rejoice because if you do it right you will get an A when Jesus is revealed.
e. He also tells us that our faith is more valuable than gold so hold on to it.
i. A lot of people need to hear this truth today - faith is more valuable than gold!
2. Romans 5:3-4 - also helps us keep the right perspective on spiritual workouts.
a. Paul here exhorts us to rejoice in our sufferings because they will produce something positive.
b. We are not to be "Masochist or sadistic individuals."
c. No we rejoice because of the opportunity for growth and strength to develop.
d. We rejoice because something beneficial will come out of all this agony!
e. Jesus’ agony on the cross caused great beneficial results and so will ours.
ii. But the key to stay focused on is we must run into the arms of God instead of throwing rocks at Him when we go through a spiritual workout.
1. The Lord wants to help us through our trials so that we develop our spiritual bodies like His.
2. He desires us to reach out to Him and allow Him to embrace us in our struggle.
3. He longs for us to stay with Him through the workout- because in reality He is going through the workout with us.
4. Followwill states, "We want to quickly get through the bog of suffering in order to step onto the firm ground of hope in a good God. We are afraid of suffering, we abhor it, we want it to be over and done with as quickly as possible, no matter what it takes. But truly dealing with personal sufferings doesn’t work that way. You can’t just wave it off. God wants to meet us very deeply and redemptively in the darkness of our grief, and lead us by the hand back into the light of his love and goodness."
5. Jesus wants us to come out the other end rejoicing - singing through the pain of the storm and dance into the light of the Son!
T.S.- Training in spiritual fitness brings with it pain and discomfort but the personal gain in the end is worth it all. Rejoicing in the presence of the Son. But we will never get there if we give up -quit-run away- or don’t determine to endure through it.
II. The key to learn in Christian growth as well as body building is -endurance and training is a must!
a. The only way to build up endurance is through training.
Illustration: From Preaching Today " In Quest of Convenience."
i. A marathon runner does not build up their endurance and strength to run 25 miles all at once and it does not happen by convenience.
1. They start with a mile and work up to 25 miles it takes patience and discipline to reach the endurance level to run 25 miles.
2. So it is in the Christian spiritual endurance and strength training.
3. I Cor. 9:24-27
1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV)
24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:25 (NIV)
25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
1 Corinthians 9:26 (NIV)
26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.
1 Corinthians 9:27 (NIV)
27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
4. II Timothy 3:10-17 note verse 16
2 Timothy 3:10 (NIV)
10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,
2 Timothy 3:11 (NIV)
11persecutions, sufferings-what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
2 Timothy 3:12 (NIV)
12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
2 Timothy 3:13 (NIV)
13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
2 Timothy 3:14 (NIV)
14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,
2 Timothy 3:15 (NIV)
15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)
16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:17 (NIV)
17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
b. There are steps to training physically and also spiritually.
i. Training involves first of all a healthy spiritual diet.
1. Fitness experts tell you that you cannot be healthy and physically fit unless you have a proper balanced diet.
2. The same is true for spiritual fitness you need to have a proper spiritual diet that is balanced.
a. To much praise and not enough Bible learning makes out of balanced spiritual athletes.
i. They become over developed in their emotions and lose focus on Biblical principles that apply to living in this world.
ii. This has to do with being salt in the world!
iii. They get into the praise but neglect the Biblical mandates.
b. To much Bible learning without the element of praise makes out of balance individuals.
i. They become focused on the Bible without any emotion for Jesus.
ii. They become centered on study but reject the dimension of literally worshipping the Lord.
iii. They become out of touch with the world unable to relate because their heads are always in books.
iv. They lose social skills that are necessary to win people to Jesus.
v. These individuals have over developed heads- 10 times bigger than their heart.
c. All Bible and no prayer is out of balance.
i. You can read the Bible and read the Bible and get nothing out of it if you do not pray to ask the Lord to make it alive.
1. Example a class at BSU
2. A former relative.
d. All prayer and no Bible basis is out of balance.
i. You can pray all the time and if you do not balance it with the Word you can be deceived like the early Gnostics where.
ii. They would go to cave to pray but they would not stay focused on the guidelines of Scripture and they would have a vision which did not align with the teaching of the Word and say their vision supersedes Bible doctrine.
1. Danger!
e. A person without a spiritually balanced diet is in for spiritual sicknesses.
i. They will develop into lopsided individuals.
f. Paul prayed for the Ephesian church in 1:17 and asked that they would have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in their lives.
i. Wisdom- defined from the Greek - Sophia-as growth in Christian knowledge, which includes knowledge of God’s will and worthy conduct. But also implies using intelligent, sensible judgment in matters relating to life.
ii. Revelation - defined from the Greek -apokalypsis - means the revealing from the Spirit of things otherwise hidden. But implies revelation through the Spirit directed by God to make a truth about the Lord known. Aligns a lot with prophecy and the prophetic. But always points to Jesus.
ii. The second dimension of training after diet is to go through the physical workouts. These help to raise their endurance level and their strength levels.
1. This is the process of consistent exercises in various areas of the body and doing it faithfully day after day to build up those muscles.
2. In the spiritual sense this has to do with exercising two main spiritual muscles the wisdom muscle and the revelation muscle.
a. The development of the spiritual wisdom muscle.
i. This is exercise done by Bible reading or listening
ii. This is exercise done by going to services to hear the word and to apply the word.
iii. This is exercise done by going to Bible Studies or classes that equip us and train us in the word.
iv. These exercise help us to become spiritually fit to run the race of life and deal with life through the Spirit of Wisdom. But there is the other side!
v. This has to do with Biblical education- The Bible tells us to Study!
b. The other spiritual muscle we need to develop is the revelation muscle.
i. This side has to do with experiencing God in an intimate way through praise and worship.
ii. This has to do with prayer- it’s in times of prayer that the Spirit unveils God’s truth to various situations.
iii. This is where some of the gifts come into the arena for training and developing. It’s learning to discern what is and what is not of God and this is balanced by the area of wisdom and knowing what God’s word says.
3. Both of these areas have a lot to do with "renewing the mind process." It’s the idea of driving out the fat of the world and replacing with spiritual muscle that enable us to live strong healthy lives for eternity.
T.S.- Spiritual fitness has to deal with building up our endurance and strength to able to live the spiritual life God desires us to live.
III. The key in body building as well as in the Christian growth process is,
self-denial is a must and the Lord has sent the Holy Spirit to be our personal trainer! We all need a spiritual trainer to helps us train so Jesus sent the Holy Spirit!
a. Galatians 5:16-26
Galatians 5:16 (NIV)
16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.
Galatians 5:17 (NIV)
17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.
Galatians 5:18 (NIV)
18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
Galatians 5:19 (NIV)
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
Galatians 5:20 (NIV)
20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
Galatians 5:21 (NIV)
21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:22 (NIV)
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23 (NIV)
23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:24 (NIV)
24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:25 (NIV)
25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:26 (NIV)
26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
b. Self-denial has a lot to do with putting God first in our lives.
i. It has a lot to do with listening to the personal trainers advice and doing it!
c. The key here is living by the direction of our personal trainer the Holy Spirit.
i. The Holy Spirit is your personal spiritual fitness trainer.
ii. He is sent by the Lord to be a counselor a teacher on how to deny the self through training directed by Him and aligned with words of Jesus. (Jn 14:26)
iii. John 16:5-16 - He is sent by the Lord to be our personal trainers in spiritual fitness.
John 16:5 (NIV)
5"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ’Where are you going?’
John 16:6 (NIV)
6Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.
John 16:7 (NIV)
7But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
John 16:8 (NIV)
8When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt£ in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
John 16:9 (NIV)
9in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me;
John 16:10 (NIV)
10in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer;
John 16:11 (NIV)
11and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
John 16:12 (NIV)
12"I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear.
John 16:13 (NIV)
13But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.
John 16:14 (NIV)
14He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
John 16:15 (NIV)
15All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
John 16:16 (NIV)
16"In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."
d. Fasting comes into play here this where the spiritual exercise of fasting enters in. It helps to put down the flesh and allows the spiritual muscles to be exercised and grow stronger than the fleshly side of us.
Conclusion:
What have we learned tonight?
1. The times of pain in our life always leads to personal gain if we stay in the arms of the Lord.
a. In time of suffering trials and tribulation understand that even though it hurts there will be great gain in the end.
2. The key to learn in Spiritual fitness as well as body building is -endurance and training are a must!
a. To train properly you must have a balanced diet!
b. It’s important to go through the workouts and train all areas of your spiritual body.
i. Exercise both the spiritual wisdom muscles and the spiritual revelation muscles.
ii. Understand that training renews the mind and develops it’s spiritual muscles.
iii. This must be done of a daily basis and on a consistent schedule.
iv. Understand that if you train properly then when the race of life hits you will be able to endure and finish the race.
3. The Lord has helped us to succeed in spiritual fitness by sending us a personal trainer the Holy Spirit.
a. He will teach us how to train properly.
b. He will keep us focused on the proper diet plan.
c. He will keep us focused on the eternal goal.
d. All we need to do is listen and be disciplined in training!
