No Escaping Affliction Part 1

Review of Previous Principles of Christian Living

0:04 This adult Sunday school class was held on February 27, 1983 at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. It was on the 16th of May in 1982 that we began a series of studies in this adult class entitled Some Major Principles of Living the Christian Life. Now, I don't know how it is with those of you who have been with us for that series. I found it hard to believe that it began that far back, but my notes do not lie to me.

0:42 And as I was pulling together the broad overview of where we have been in preparation for striking out in the direction that we hope to proceed this morning, the date of May 16, 1982 does indeed appear on the heading of the first lesson in this broad category of concern. Now, the basic purpose for this series...

1:05 The first series, begun at that time, was stated as a threefold purpose. Number one, to sketch in a broad outline of a practical, working theology of living the Christian life. Secondly, to immunize you as God's people against the many errors that are afloat, respecting how one is to live the Christian life. And then thirdly, to purge away any false teaching which you may have imbibed in your pilgrimage thus far.

1:35 Now, since that time, with several digressions into other vital aspects of mutual concern, we have examined the first four of these major principles. And we have expressed them as follows. Number one, there is no one master key to living the Christian life. Much erroneous teaching on living the Christian life has as its starting point that there is one master key, which, if...

2:05 That key is in our hands will unlock all of the mysteries and problems of the Christian life. But we saw in our study together in the language of Matthew 4, for man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, it takes all of Scripture to make whole men thoroughly furnished unto every good work. And the second major principle we examined was this.

2:34 There is no escape from tension and conflict in living the Christian life. And we discovered together from the Scriptures that as long as these four realities are part and parcel of living the Christian life, there will be particularly inner tension and conflict. The reality and activity of indwelling sin, the presence and activity of a hostile world, the vicious attacks and attempts of the devil, to overthrow the work of God in the people of God, and the fact that we are saved in hope. And then the third major principle we examined was that there is no suspension or negation

3:16 of the conscious engagement of all of our redeemed faculties in living the Christian life. Or more simply stated, there is no area of passivity in living the Christian life. And the great text, which is sort of the watershed of the teaching, of the word of God, is Philippians 2, 12 and 13. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

3:45 And then, believe it or not, for 11 weeks we examined the fourth principle. That there is no crisis experience, commanded or promised, as essential to living the Christian life. There is no crisis experience, commanded or promised, as essential to living the Christian life. Now, in those few minutes we've reviewed what it has taken us some 21 class times to cover together.

Introducing the Fifth Principle: No Escaping Affliction

4:16 And now what we do this morning is to press on to a consideration of the fifth major principle of living the Christian life. And what I shall do is state the principle, spend a few minutes exegeting the meaning of my own words, and then...

4:33 I'll go to work in trying to draw out of you scriptures which buttress, which affirm, which act as the raw materials out of which this principle is constructed. So you bear with me for the first few minutes while I simply lecture to you. It would take a long time for us to compose the wording of the principle. If I were to pull it out of you, I'm sure it could be done, but I don't believe that would be the best use of our...

5:03 our time together. Principle number five is this, There is no escaping the varied pressures of afflictive circumstances in living the Christian life. There is no escaping the varied pressures of afflictive circumstances in living the Christian life. Now as I've already indicated, I'll explain the meaning of the words which comprise That statement of the principle.

Defining 'Afflictive Circumstances' and 'Varied Pressures'

5:36 Now in principle number two, we were concerned primarily with the conflict in tension that a believer has in his dealing with the problem of sin. Sin in himself, sin in the world, and then the efforts of the devil to provoke him to sin. So the concern of principle number two, expressed in the words, there is no escape or release from tension and conflict, that principle was rather limited in its scope. But now this principle is much broader.

6:10 There is no escaping the varied pressures of afflictive circumstances in living the Christian life. Now let me first of all define what I mean by afflictive circumstances, then varied pressures, and then there is no escape from them. Now what do I mean by afflictive circumstances? Well I am referring to, those circumstances which cause pain or distress.

6:38 There is a key word in the New Testament language, the Greek word is flipsis. If we were transliterating, that's the way we would transliterate. T-H-L-I-P-I-S. Flipsis.

6:53 Those of you who know at least a little Greek, what did I do? Flips. P-S-I-S. Pardon?

7:03 Oh. P. S. Oh, yeah, in my transliteration.

7:06 I'm sorry. Thank you. Flipsis. And that's what it looks like in the Greek.

7:11 And it comes from a verb form,

7:18 phlebo, long O,

7:23 which means to pressure, to put stress upon. It means to cause distress. And so we come into this whole category of biblical thought, and there are many usages of this word in the New Testament, and the verb literally means to pressure or to compress. And so that which brings pressure or compresses is an affliction or a tribulation.

7:51 And so I have used the terminology afflictive circumstances, circumstances which cause pain and distress, whether inwardly of the soul and of the mind and the spirit, or outwardly in terms of bodily ailments, in terms of physical discomfort and pain, circumstances that create physical financial distress. So by afflictive circumstances, I am trying to use words which bring within their scope all that the Bible describes under the category of flipsis, tribulation, affliction.

8:33 Now, I've used the terminology varied pressures, and I've used this terminology to try to capture the fact that afflictive circumstances are not always the same in kind, degree, or intensity for any one Christian at any point in his life, let alone for all Christians at all points in their lives. You see the point I'm making? There are varied pressures, afflictive pressures, upon the people of God. Now, in the course of any Christian's walk, at any given point in that walk, there will be a variety of the pressures.

9:15 There will be greater intensity at one period in his life as opposed to another. So the pressures of afflictive circumstances vary in the life of every single Christian in kind, in degree, and in intensity. Take the life of Job. Job was not always sitting in sackcloth and ashes and scraping his body with a knife.

9:39 He was never wearing wheels with a pot shirt.

9:41 But there was a period in his life when he was, when he came under unusual concentration, an unusual concentration of afflictive circumstances. And then, as we compare Job with other saints, Abraham, David, Solomon, Peter, Paul, never passed through anything, as far as we have the record of it, that even approach the concentration of afflictive circumstances that came upon Job. So, There are varied pressures from afflictive circumstances, varied in kind degree and intensity in every individual Christian's life, and between one Christian and another.

The Inevitability of Affliction and the Desire to Escape

10:24 And our principle affirms that there is no escaping, no escaping the varied pressures of afflictive circumstances. Now, why have I stated that in the principle? Well, for the simple reason that no one in his right mind enjoys pain and distress. And God has so made us that we all have a built-in escape mechanism from pain and distress.

10:50 When you inadvertently put your hand on a hot stove, you don't keep it there and say, oh, well, I think a signal has gone to my brain. My hand is on a hot stove. Now, isn't that interesting? What shall I do?

11:03 Well, I think I'll, I think it, no, you don't do that. The minute you, there's a reflexive response. Now, what is true of physical pain is true of the pain of the soul. No one deliberately keeps the hand of his soul on the hot fire of searing inward pain.

11:21 And God has so made us that there is a natural aversion to pain and distress, and there are instinctive reactions to escape from the cause of pain and distress. And so the desire to escape is not in itself sinful. But, but, the teaching of the Word of God is that there is no escaping the varied pressures of afflicted circumstances in living the Christian life. And one of the tragedies of many false teachings with regard to the Christian life is that they seize upon that natural, God-given, instinctive desire to get your hand off the stove, and they give you a manipulation of the Scripture,

12:05 which is supposedly the Word of God to tell you how to get your hand off the stove. And that's so appealing because there is in any person in his right mind a desire to escape pain and distress. And so you and I must come to grips with the fact that until the consummation, when our Lord comes, there is going to be pain. The pain of afflicted circumstances, or if we die before His coming, then our spirits will join the spirits of justice, men made perfect, and we will know total release from all afflictive pressures upon our souls,

12:46 and then in the day of the resurrection our glorified bodies will be reunited to those souls, and we will know eternal release from all afflictive circumstances, body and soul, and that forever. All right? I hope I've adequately explained the language of the principle now. What I want you to do, and here's where you go to work, is to produce from the Scriptures, first of all, some general statements which assert this fact.

General Scriptural Affirmations of Affliction

13:14 Can you think of some general categorical statements in the Word of God to the effect that there is no escape from the varied pressures of afflicted circumstances in living the Christian life? We want either explicit affirmations of that, or passages which imply it so strongly that we cannot avoid the pressure of the implicit teaching of the passage. All right? Someone think he's found one.

13:47 All right, Charles? Very good. All right, read it for us, please. All right, in this upper room discourse of our Lord, His intimate unfolding of His heart to His own disciples, you remember it's in this setting that He says, I henceforth call you no more servants or slaves, for a slave does not know what his master does, but I call you friends, because I'm disclosing the deep secrets of my heart to you.

14:27 And in that disclosure, filled with tremendous words of consolation, words of prophecy about the coming of the other Comforter, the coming of the Holy Spirit who will testify of Christ, who will bring the believers into a dimension of realized union with Christ that hitherto they have never known. In that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. Marvelous promises that take the believer, as it were, to the heights of spiritual privilege, and yet in the midst of that, and almost as a summary statement of what they can expect in the light of that, we have verse 33. These things have I spoken unto you, all of these glorious things,

15:12 only some of which I have alluded to in this brief resume of the preceding chapters, these things have I spoken unto you, that in me, ye may have peace, that in me, ye may have rest and tranquility of heart, that ye may have the opposite of turmoil and disruption, in me ye may have peace. But now notice, that peace will be experienced and realized not apart from, being lifted above the reality of something that is the opposite of peace, but in the very midst of it. In the world ye have tribulation. Ah...

15:52 In the world ye have tribulation, and that word eclipses is used. You will have afflictive pressures brought to bear upon you as long as you are in the world. There is an explicit categorical statement given here, primarily and in context to the twelve or to the eleven, but we know from the analogy of scripture that this was given to them not because of their unique position as apostles, but because of their position as believers or Christians. All right, another statement, just as explicit, all right?

16:30 All right, James chapter 1, verses 2 through 4. Read them for us if you will, please, Jay. All right, and what's the pressure of this text that makes it an affirmation of the principle, Jay?

17:03 Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into manifold temptations or trials. You'll notice the margin. Reading in the 1901, you have a little number 4, and at the bottom it has trials. This word is used in a rather flexible way.

17:23 Manifold temptations or trials, knowing that the proving of your faith works patience or endurance. And so James is assuming that the brethren will fall into manifold, varied trials and testings. All right, another text. All right, Mike.

17:42 All right, and so the categorical assertion of afflictive circumstances here focuses on what issue? Okay, all right. Another passage, someone from over this side. All right, David.

18:24 Very good. Read it for us, please.

18:48 Coming through the churches, the groups of believers that had been gathered under the missionary endeavors of the servants of God, when they go back and visit these young believers, this is one of the great burdens of their faith. This is a follow-up message that through many tribulations, we must enter into the kingdom of God. And without specifying the particulars in any given case, the apostle and his companions are able to affirm without ever being afraid of contradiction in the subsequent life history. In other words, they were not embarrassed or nervous that someone would come up to them five years later and say, what in the world are you talking about?

19:30 I remember when you paid your last visit to us. You said through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. I've been in the way five years now. I've never had a tribulation.

19:39 What in the world are you talking about? You see, Paul and his companions were not at all afraid that anyone would ever come up to them that way. They were able to assert without any fear of subsequent contradiction in the experience of the true people of God that many tribulations would mark God's people. All right, another passage.

19:58 All right, Paul. All right, in writing then to these believers, the apostle assumed, assumes that they are in a present situation of suffering and trial and that that will continue.

20:40 Now, some might say, and I would put this passage, Paul, if I may do so with your consent, in what I'd call the second rank of soldiers, because there was a particular historical situation in the lives of those believers. They were undergoing what we would call a discernible, concentrated persecution. And they were about to undergo something even more intense. And he says, think it not strange.

21:04 It's concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. So, in that given situation, they exemplify the principle. But I don't think we could take the leap and say these passages assert as a general principle that this will be true of all believers. All right?

21:20 But certainly it's a good second rank soldier, that passage. All right, George.

21:32 Very good. All right, so Job reasons from his own peculiar and varied concentration of afflictive circumstances to the more general. Generic situation in which all men find themselves. All right?

21:55 A couple of other texts. Pastor Clark? Second Corinthians 5.4.

21:59 All right. For indeed, while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened. All right? All right, so the apostle says, while we are in this tent, this present bodily existence, in this body in which the seeds of death are operative, we groan, being burdened.

22:18 And so if the apostle, with all the heights of his life, and all the heights of his life, and all the heights of his life, his own spiritual experience says, we groan, being burdened, it would be rather presumptuous for anyone to say he has so claimed Christ as his health and his life for his mortal frame, that he no longer feels the burden of this present tabernacle, a burden even unto groaning. All right? A couple of other key texts. All right, Tim?

22:43 Unto you it has been given. Now again, I think we'd put this in the second rank of soldiers, because again, there was a peculiar historical situation, to which Paul was addressing himself with respect to the believers at Philippi, and he says, it has been given to you Philippians. Now from other passages, the analogy of scripture, we can see that it does fit into the general category, but I think I'd put it in my second rank of soldiers. All right?

23:23 Okay. All kinds of hands here. All right. Scott?

23:29 All right. Now we're beginning to get down to some of the specific categories, so you're anticipating. All right. Now you see, I'm sure you could bring forward all kinds of verses.

23:43 Hands are going up all over the place, and what I'd like to suggest is that maybe you make your own little list. All right? The ones that you've already mentioned certainly bear the weight that has been put upon them. General statements which assert that afflictive circumstances are part and parcel of the experience of the people of God in this life.

24:07 John 16, 33, In the world ye have tribulation. Acts 14, 22, Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And then these other passages you've mentioned, we could add to them. Matthew 13, 21, When tribulation and persecution arise because of the word, not if they arise.

24:29 Jesus said when they arise because of the word. Wherever the word is professed to be received, tribulation and persecution will ensue upon that professed reception, the reception of the word. Paul writing to all believers in Romans 12, 12, tells them to be patient in tribulation, assuming they will all have tribulation. 1 Thessalonians 3, 1 to 4, Paul made it a very basic part of his instruction to the Thessalonians.

25:00 He says, When we were with you, we told you that tribulation would be your lot, and it's come to pass even as we told you. And so there are many, many references which buttress, this principle, or out of which the principle grows. It is simply an attempt to express the pressure of all of these texts, indicating no escape from afflicted circumstances in their varied pressure upon us as the people of God. Now then, since you've already begun to move into this next category, let me ask you to give verses which put in specific categories the various...

Specific Category 1: Persecution from the Ungodly

25:42 varied pressures which we will experience as the people of God. There are specific categories within which these afflicted circumstances come upon us. Here we've looked at the general statements that afflicted circumstances will indeed be our experience. Now, when we turn to the word of God, we find that the Bible gets more specific, and tells us that at least three or four major categories within which these afflicted circumstances will come upon us.

26:16 Now the first is persecution from the ungodly. Bring forward the text which clearly asserts that some degree of persecution in one form or another will inevitably be the experience of every child of God. Now notice, I did not say that every child of God at every point in his life will experience the same kind of persecution. It's the same kind or degree.

26:43 And after Wednesday night, I'm all the more convinced one cannot be plain enough and qualified enough in asserting and affirming and denying. In spite of all the clear things I tried to say Wednesday night in prayer meeting about the fact that just an initial overture, just a wink, has come from the church in Orlando, just the dropping of a handkerchief, some people have already got dear Mr. Lee married and happily...

27:09 happily suited in house and everything else down in Orlando. I find it hard to concede. But nonetheless, that's true. So please, please, please listen carefully.

27:20 Listen carefully. Carefully now. You got all your ears out, all two of them? All right.

27:28 We are not saying that the Bible teaches that if the moment you rise from your knees saying, God be merciful, me a sinner, if you aren't plunged into all kinds of conscious, perception of hatred and opposition and social ostracization, you're not a Christian. We're not saying that. The Bible doesn't say that. But now there are many texts which do say that persecution from the ungodly will indeed be the experience of every true Christian in this life.

28:00 Varied as to kind, degree, intensity, differing from one believer to another, differing in various periods of the church, all of those varieties fully acknowledged bring forward the text. One of them has already been quoted. All right? All right.

28:28 John 15, 18 to 21. Our Lord states in the summary statement that we've already considered. John 16, 33. In the world you shall have tribulation.

28:41 That's the general statement. But earlier he gave a specific statement of one of the categories. And one of those categories is, persecution from the ungodly. John 15, 18 to 21.

28:56 If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. In other words, this reaction is not due to their peculiar office-bearing capacity as apostles, but because they are the elect of God, the effectually called of God, and therefore the principles apply to all of God's people.

29:27 Remember the word that I said unto you. A servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted me, and they did, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my word, they will keep yours also.

29:43 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. So one of the categories in which afflicted circumstances will come upon the people of God is that of persecution from the ungodly. John 15, 18 to 21. Alright, now the text mentioned earlier by Scott.

30:02 Alright, read it for us, Scott, if you will, again. 2 Timothy 3, 12. Alright, you see how broad and all-inclusive is this text? What has the apostle been speaking about in the context, Scott?

30:21 Alright, his own persecutions. He says in verse 11, persecutions, sufferings, which, what things befell me at Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord delivered me. And it's as though he almost anticipates someone saying, well, Paul, that's peculiar to you because of the eminence of your godliness, the advanced state of your zeal, the greater exposure you have to the ungodly because you're a frontline soldier. Paul almost anticipates that objection and cuts it off before it can get out of the mouth of the objector.

31:01 Yes, he says, and all, not who will preach zealously as apostles, but all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So afflictive circumstances in the form of persecution from the ungodly will inevitably come upon the people of God. Our Lord's statement in John 15, the apostle's statement, alright, two or three other clear texts. Mr. Dixon?

31:29 Alright. Alright. And the force of this passage is to be found in what? Alright.

32:04 So he's describing in the Beatitudes, is he not, the character traits of all the sons and daughters of the kingdom. It's helpful to regard the Beatitudes as our Lord's picture of the character of the righteous son or daughter of the kingdom. And our Lord assumes, just as much as every son or daughter of the kingdom is poor in spirit, mourns, is meek, hungers and thirsts for righteousness, is merciful, pure in heart, and a peacemaker, our Lord assumes that every such person will be one who in one degree or another, in varying kinds of expressions, varying degrees of intensity, all of the variables

32:47 will nonetheless be one who is persecuted for righteousness' sake. Alright. Any other passages? John?

32:56 Alright. So, at least in terms of the churches there in Asia Minor that were in existence at that time, there was particular tribulation. I think I'd put that again

33:40 in the second rank of soldiers with regard to this, because there was a peculiar historical circumstance. It's not quite as general. Alright? Alright.

33:50 Someone else? Yes. Alright. 1 Peter 4, 12 and 13.

34:07 Pardon? Verse 14. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you. So this is telling us what we are to do when we are reproached.

34:16 I would put that again in the second rank of soldiers, a text a little bit earlier in the chapter. Notice chapter 4, verses 1 to 4. For as much then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves with the same mind. For he that hath suffered in the flesh is seized from sin, that you should no longer live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God.

34:41 For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, wine-bibbings, revelings, carousing, and abominable idolatries, wherein they think it strange that you run not with them into the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you. So whenever someone leaves the ranks of ungodly companions and the pattern of ungodly living, then this man is spoken evil of when he no longer runs to the same excess of riot. All right? Some other passages.

35:20 A couple of other key passages. Yes, Janie? Yes, I would put that in a second rank in that it's speaking particularly to servants, you notice verse 18, who may suffer at the hands of unjust masters and how they are to react to that suffering. Okay?

35:43 Yes, Jeff? All right. The second word. I emphasized the first one.

35:56 I quote it for us. Tribulation and persecution arise because of the word. Matthew 13, 21. So that verse is a good text not only to assert the general when tribulation arises, but even this specific category, when persecution arises because of the word.

36:21 Well, these are the key texts that I listed, the John 15, 18 to 21, the Matthew 5, 10 to 12, 2 Timothy 3, 12, 1 Peter 4, 1 to 4, and Matthew 13, 21. I'm sure it's not an exhaustive list. Yes, Pastor Dixon? Hebrews?

36:35 Against the people of God? Yes. All right. That would be, I think, again, the second ranked soldier because it's describing what the people of God underwent as people of faith.

36:50 Well, I'm sure there are other passages, but I hope these will suffice to convince us that afflictive circumstances are not only generally promised as part and parcel of ordinary, normal Christian experience, but specifically, persecution from the ungodly. All right? Now there's a second category of afflictive circumstances. The first category was persecution from the ungodly.

Specific Category 2: The Discomfort of Divine Chastisement

37:15 The second category is what I'm going to call the discomfort of divine chastisement. The discomfort of divine chastisement. Can you tell me where you find a passage that says every Christian, at one point or another, to some degree or another, is going to experience the discomfort of divine chastisement? All right, Larry?

37:41 All right. And where's that found, Larry? It escaped you. No, you mean I forgot.

38:04 See, you blamed it when you said it escaped me. You see? You put the blame on it. It didn't go anywhere.

38:09 It's right there. Right there. Hebrews 12.

38:16 Now, you see how the human heart works? It escaped me. Blame it on the passage. I forgot.

38:20 Now, are you ready to change your language? Okay. I forgot. Very good.

38:26 All right. Let's turn to Hebrews 12. Yes, Mr. Dixon?

38:30 An illustration of wholesome banter amongst friends. All right. Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12.

38:36 Now, you remember the setting, the people of God are going to come and they're going to come and they're going to come and they're going to come and they're going to come and they're going to come and they're going and they're going to come and they're going to come speaking, the people of God are urged to press on to run the Christian race with endurance, looking onto Jesus, the Jesus who was despised and yet came through that period of humiliation to a place of exultation not growing weary

39:20 in this conflict with sin There to consider our Lord who endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself now, verse 4 you have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which reasons with you as with sons. And now there is a direct quote from Proverbs chapter 3, verse 11 and following. My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved of him. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens and scourges every son whom he receives. It is for chastening that

40:00 you endure. God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father chastens not? Well, the answer of the Bible is the father who hates his son. That's the answer of the Bible.

40:13 So any father who says, I love my son too much to chasten him, no, God says you hate him, and you cooperate with the devil in sending him to hell. What son is there whom his father chastens not? But if you are without chastening, whereof all have been made partakers, then are you illegitimate. Sons and not true sons. Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we gave

40:37 them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed good to them. But he for our profit that we may be partakers of his holiness. All chastening seems for the present to be not

40:57 joyous but grievous. Now that's why we've put chastening in the category of an afflictive circumstance. All chastening for the present seems not joyous but grievous. There is what I've called the discomfort of divine chastisement.

41:20 And if we do not know that discomfort of divine chastisement over any given period of time, then we have reason to question whether or not indeed we are the people of God. Now I've found from a pastoral standpoint, many times people have a very narrow and constricted view as to what form divine chastisement will take. And they feel unless they've been in a hospital room in an intensive care unit with 45 tubes stuck in their nose, their ears, and their stomach, and been pronounced half dead, they've never been chastened of the Lord. Well, that's a very limited perspective on what divine chastisement is. It comes in many, many forms. But it comes nonetheless,

42:00 and no matter what, the form is, this is the bottom line, it never is pleasant when you're under the chastening hand of God. So any of you who've read the little book by the Fabrizios on children, fun or frenzy, there are a few good principles in there, but one of the things in it that is way off the wall is the whole idea that you can so apply the rod that your children will welcome it and love it. There's something sick about that. Any kid that welcomes a spanking, either the spanking is not what it ought to be, or there's something, or there's something that's not what it ought to be, or there's something that's not what it ought to be, it does not seem joyous but grievous. Now, the child may love the fruit of that when his will has been

42:41 subdued and he's brought into the reconciled state with his parent, granted, but to say that a child should actually welcome and get excited when he sees the switch, that's sick. That's not biblical. That's inhuman. That is not biblical. No chastening for the present seem joyous, joyous,

43:01 but grievous. Grievous. Your kids, when they see you take the spoon or the switch, they ought to start pleading for mercy. Say, no daddy, no daddy, I will never do it again. And I say, that may well be, but you

43:14 did it this time. And all the promises you won't do it again don't substitute for the fact you did it this time and you knew better, so you're going to get it. But I promised I'd never do it. I know that. Thank you for the promise, but over my knee anyway. All right? Well, in the same way,

43:31 in the same way, there are times when God lays, the rod on us, and it pumbles us, and it breaks us, and we cry out under the rod, oh God, never again, never again. And God says, all right, I hope you mean it, but you did it this time. And for this cause, for this cause, and the rod of affliction of God's gracious, loving, paternal chastisement comes upon us. Now, another key text which asserts that this is the lot of all of God's children.

44:00 Anyone think of it? If you're loved of Christ, you'll be chastened of Christ.

44:07 You think of the text. Pastor Nichols, Revelation 319. Quote it for us, please.

44:21 As many as I love, I reprove, and I chasten. He brings the verbal corrective upon us, and he brings the corporal corrective upon us. And may I say to you, parents, again, our Lord is the great pattern. If you think you're so effective as a parent that all you need is words and no punishment, you're wiser than the Lord.

44:46 That's just that simple. As many as I love, I reprove, verbal, and I chasten. Now, not chastening without the verbal, not the verbal without the corporal, but the two joined together in holy love and in holy wisdom, taking full cognizance of all the variables of his children. As with earthly parents and their children, so our heavenly Father and our great Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. What

45:19 would utterly break one child doesn't even dent another one. And the Lord knows that. And the way he deals with us is according to his perfect knowledge of us and his sensitive understanding love. And you who are parents, you know this. One of your children, just a look and even the

45:35 threat of the spoon, and they break. Another one is like Leviathan in the book of Job, ain't scared of nothing. And they just seem to be almost impervious. Almost so God gave them steel nerve endings. And I mean, you've got to be careful. You've got to be careful. You've got to be careful.

45:50 You've got to spank and spank and spank before they even cry. And spank a lot more before they even begin to seem to be broken. Then you must take awareness, take cognizance of that. Well, so our Lord in his dealings with us. But chastise us he will if we're within the orbit of his love.

46:08 Now, those are the only two passages I know of. Yes. Yes. And we could find many illustrations of this in the scripture that those whom the Lord loves, he will chasten. He'll bring his word

46:29 and he brought it. Providence to bear upon his children in order to perfect them in holiness. And this is a proof of his love, not an indication of his anger and wrath, although he may have paternal anger. He doesn't have judicial anger toward his children, but he does have paternal anger. And may I say

46:48 again, parents, it's not wrong to get angry at your kids. Now, some parents labor under false guilt. Kid does some crazy thing off the wall, defies your government. And then the parent gets guilty because he's angry.

47:02 No, you need to be like God. God gets angry. You read all the way through the Old Testament is anger against his people. But it's the anger of an offended father. And as many as I love, I rebuke

47:14 and chasten. But our Lord knows holy anger when we blatantly and wantonly disobey him and trample his law underfoot and breathe and wound his Holy Spirit. So parents don't feel it's sinning to be angry when your kids do something that warrants discipline. Now, make sure that in the administration of your discipline, you're not carried beyond the bounds of propriety by the undisciplined expressions of your anger. That's sin. If your anger does not cut

47:44 a proper and appropriate channel of discipline, that's sinful. But to be angry is not sinful. Does that shock some of you? I hope it doesn't. I hope it relieves some of you of false guilt.

47:58 Your kid does some sneaky thing and then covers it up with a lie and you discover it. For you, it is to come to God. It is to come to God. It is to come to God. It is to come to God. It is to

48:03 come to God. It is to come to God. It is to come to God. It is to come to God. It is to come to God.

48:03 You come to your wife and say, you know, dear, I discovered that little Johnny was deceitful. It's not interesting. Now, you better come with your cheek flushed with anger. Do you know what that kid did? Why he did thus and thus or she did thus and thus and then deliberately lied?

48:19 Well, wait till he gets home from school. Wait till she gets home from school. And then you prayerfully ask God to help you to find an appropriate way of dealing with that issue. And your anger comes under the control of righteous, principles. But the anger doesn't get negated. You'd be unlike God to be angerless.

48:41 So part of bearing the image of God is the capacity to get angry at the right things and in the right degree and then to find appropriate expressions of that anger. You read this in the book of the Revelation. Speaking to the churches, Jesus said, I gave them space to repent and they wouldn't. He said, I'll cast them into a bed and those that commit fornication with her into a bed and I'll bring judgment upon them. His eyes,

49:04 there is a flame of fire as he stands amidst the churches. And certain things make him angry. When Jesus went through the temple with that scourge of cord, he didn't have a smile on his face. Hey, you fellas, I think it's time to pray, don't you? Nice day. Well,

49:18 he was angry. And I'm sure the anger flashed from his eyes like living coals of fire. And when he threw over those tables, I'm sure he was not, he was not the embodiment of gentleness and of tact. He was not.

49:35 A place for holy anger. Zeal for the house of the Lord ate him up. Well, I don't want to get in too many digressions, but these are such vital things for us as God's people. So afflictive circumstances are going to come to us. Persecution from the ungodly. Secondly,

Homework: Other Categories and Divine Intentions

49:51 the discomfort of divine chastisement. And let me give you a little homework now because our time is gone already. The hour has slipped away from us. And there are a couple of other categories and I'll mention them to you. And you see if you can find them, you can find

50:06 verses under these categories. All right? I'll give you one other category that I have in my notes that I've prepared ahead. And I think there may be a fourth one. And there

50:17 may be more. You may come up with more. But it's the category that I've called the tribulation or afflictive circumstances from dark providences. From dark providences. Things that are not

50:32 explicitly or patently the persecution from the ungodly. The discomfort of divine chastisement, but this pressure that comes from the tribulation of dark providences. Where the scriptures speak of trials and pressures brought to bear upon the people of God in terms of providences that may not be clearly defined in scripture, but they are nonetheless what we would call dark providences. And then perhaps you may want to wrestle with the question, what is the divine chastisement? What is the divine

51:07 chastisement? What is the divine chastisement? What is the divine chastisement? What is the divine intention in these afflictive circumstances? And there you will find I have at least now

51:12 in my preparing ahead at least five categories of explicit purposes God has in these afflictive circumstances that come upon us as the people of God. And why they will be part and parcel of our experience until we are in the presence of God.

51:31 Yes, Pastor Nichols? Pressure that comes from weighty responsibilities and concerns. Good. That's one of the delights of this class where you make contributions. I've always

52:09 come up with more material at the end of the class than I had at the beginning. You came up with four or five texts that I did not think of. And one of the reasons in the text you quoted, the word flipsis is not used as such. And I concentrated most of my study in preparation by going through all of the references in the New Testament to phlebo and to flipsis, but certainly these other passages fit in the general category. It's

52:37 2 Corinthians 11, 28. Yes. Besides all of these things, that which comes upon me daily anxiety for all the churches. Yes, Paul? All right. So the pressure that comes from the

53:02 godless climate in which we must live. Very good. Well, you all do your homework. We might come up with a list of ten categories. All right. That's fine. We just want to be honest

53:13 with the Bible. That's all. And I have no desire to preserve my outline intact. It's our desire that together we might discover the mind of God on this vital matter.

Conclusion: Embracing Affliction and Prayer

53:24 So a young Christian who began to think, well, if you just grow a little bit more and learn a little more Bible and learn how to pray a little better, you're going to get over the hump and it's going to be smooth sailing. I hope you realize the only hump over which you will pass into smooth sailing is the return of the Lord or your demise and your entrance into his presence. So just roll up your sleeves and say, it's going to be part and parcel of my lot to suffer affliction. I will feel the pressure of the Lord. I will feel the pressure of the Lord. I will feel

53:54 the pressure of afflictive circumstances until I die. Now the question is, what do I do with them? And how will I react to them? And how will I relate to them so that God's gracious purposes will be realized in their outworking? Now can you imagine what anyone

54:11 has to do as a view of the Christian life which promises release from afflictive circumstances? Can you imagine trying to read through your Bible consecutively and stumbling over passage after passage such as you've brought forward? Without any previous preparation, you see how much of the Bible you'd have to overlook and with which you'd have to be dishonest. And that's our great concern, to have no theology of the Christian life that makes us either embarrassed with any teaching of the Word of God or that makes us dishonest in our handling of the Scriptures. Well, let's pray together.

54:48 Father, we do express to you our deep gratitude that you've given us your Word. And that in your Word you have been honest with us. That you have not veiled from us the realities of what it is to live as a Christian in this present evil age. We pray that you will so establish us in your truth that we will not be moved by the well-meaning or deliberately deceptive promises of religious teachers that we can so appropriate grace or so live as men and women in obedience to God.

55:29 Lord, we would as a body of your people bow our necks to the yoke that you have framed and fashioned for us as your people and pray that we may be delivered from the restlessness that seeks to shape that yoke after the impulses of our own carnal desires and our own whims. Help us. Bow the neck to the yoke that you have fashioned and to be made more and more into the likeness of your dear Son as a result. Hear our prayer.

56:08 Bless our reflections throughout the week. And if it please you to bring us together again next Lord's Day, may it be with renewed insights as we have meditated upon your word. Hear us and answer us. For the sake of your dear Son we pray.

56:24 Amen.