TEXT: Psalm 39:9

SUBJECT: Mute Christian #4

Tonight, with God’s help, we’ll continue our Puritan study. The title is The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod; the author is Thomas Brooks; the subject is Suffering with Grace.

Thus far, we’ve looked at three big ideas: (1) In this world, you must suffer; (2) You ought to suffer with grace, i.e., without raging, murmuring, or sulking; (3) You can do this if you remember that all suffering comes from the Lord and is meant to do you good.

This does not make suffering enjoyable or easy or less painful than it is! But it gives you the insight to cope with it in a way that glorifies the Lord.

Having said all this, the Puritans applies the doctrine in a strongly negative way. He says,

He goes on to rebuke five kinds of people. The words are not pleasant, but they are needed. For what it’s worth, there’s a bit of me in every one of the men he exposes and corrects.

If we ought to suffer with grace, then the duty sharply reproves,

Brooks was an Englishman, of course, and he speaks out against his own people. But what he says of the Britons three hundred years ago, is equally true of us. If not more.

This pretty well describes most Americans. If you make $50,000, you gripe that you don’t make $100,000. If you make $100,000, you’re unhappy that you don’t make $200, 000. Of course, it never occurs to you that people in Haiti live on $500 a year!

If you’re unmarried, you want a spouse. If you have one, you don’t like him or her. If you can’t have kids, you want them more than anything, if you have kids, you long for the days of freedom you had before they were born.

If you’re a Democrat, George W. Bush is the Anti-Christ; if you’re a Republican, Al Gore is the Beast.

If you have too much to do, you’re stressed out. If you have too little to do, you’re bored.

Just about everyone has "food and clothing", but hardly anyone is "content therewith".

This is not right or safe. It despises the mercies you have—and the God who gave them to you. If the Lord wants you to suffer with grace, you’ve got to stop bellyaching, and begin saying, Psalm 116:12,

Don’t be a complainer. That’s Number One.

If God wants you to suffer with grace, He doesn’t want you to be a worrier. If it’s hard not to gripe when things go wrong, it’s even harder to not worry. Worry is a universal problem—especially with women, it seems to me.

We’ve all worried; some of us have been eaten up by it. But submitting to the pains of life is the opposite of worrying about them.

What is worry? For one thing, it’s disobedience because God tells you not to do it, Philippians 4:6. For another thing, it’s unbelief, Matthew 6:25-32. It’s also laziness, Matthew 6:33-34. If worry is a sin of commission, a sin of omission, and a sin of unbelief, it must be pretty bad. And it is. Here’s the quote,

Don’t be a worrier. That’s Number Two.

The third group the Puritan chastises is blasphemers. That’s a very strong word, of course. It means one who speaks out against God. We think of Atheists or idolaters. But there’s a milder form of blasphemy; even Christians may be guilty of it. It’s blaming God for our problems, as though He were in the wrong for sending them our way.

Speaking out against the Lord is a terrible sin. I suspect not one person here is wholly innocent of it. When things go wrong, we get mad at God about it. Sometimes we say things we shouldn’t. At other times, we make the right noises (of submission), but our hearts are rotten to the core.

The only way to resist the temptation is to think—not what God is doing to you—but what you deserve Him to do to you.

No one ever suffered quietly while thinking God was giving him a raw deal. If you want to suffer with grace, don’t be a blasphemer. That’s Number Three.

The fourth group is what I call "demanders". I’m not sure that’s a word, but you know what I mean. It’s the kind of person who won’t be quiet until God tells him why bad things are happening to him. He will accept pain, but he won’t tolerate uncertainty.

One of the holiest men in the world felt this way. One day he was a rich man, with ten beautiful kids, a loving wife, good friends, and fine health. The next day, his wealth and kids were dead. A bit later, his health was gone, his friends were piling on him, and his wife was advising suicide.

That man was Job. If you read the Book carefully, you’ll see he wanted one thing more than anything else. It wasn’t his kids back or his money restored, or even his health. What he wanted was answers. He thought God was obliged to explain things to him. Until He did, Job would not submit.

Did the Lord oblige him? No He didn’t. He said, in effect, Who are you to make demands of Me? Job knew He was right, Job 40:3-5.

There’s nothing harder than accepting problems without knowing why they’ve come your way. But accept them you must. If you’re to suffer with grace. Here’s the quote,

Don’t get me wrong on this one: It’s not sinful to ask God "Why"? It may be very helpful, for some problems are meant to teach us certain lessons. But that’s not what I’m getting at here: It’s not asking God that’s wrong, but demanding answers. The former is humble, the latter is proud. One makes you into a Child of God, the other assumes you’re His Judge. You’re not.

Don’t be a demander. That’s Number Four.

The last group he criticizes is sinners. He means it in a special way. Not, sinning in general, which we all do all the time, but rather sinning in order to relieve your suffering.

Some problems cannot be escaped by sinning, but others can. For example, if you don’t like your parents, you can run away from home. That solves your problem, doesn’t it? It creates others, of course, but it does get you out of that one.

But that is not the way to suffer with grace. Brooks says,

Sinning to get out of your problems is the opposite of submitting to them with grace. If God wants you to do the latter, He must look sourly on doing the former. Don’t sin to get out of your problems. The smallest sin is worse than the biggest problem. Though God is very gracious, no one ever

It didn’t work for others; it won’t work for you.

I told you at the beginning that the words of this sermon would not be fun to hear. They aren’t fun for you—and even less for me—because I’m guilty and, being a teacher, I’m more responsible than you are! Take the hard words. But know I said them in sympathy.

Are you a complainer? A worrier? A blasphemer, demander, or sinner? If you are, you need to recognize your sins, confess them to the Lord, the forgiveness He offers, and repent. What our Lord said to the fallen woman applies equally to us,

God bless you. Everyone. Amen.