My Suffering Feels Meaningless

00:00:02.000 | How do we respond when life seems

00:00:08.780 | When the suffering hits and the waves of suffering we feel seems itself to be totally pointless.

00:00:17.240 | This essential topic Pastor John took up in one of his most important sermons he has ever preached.

00:00:22.560 | It's one that he preached in the year 2013 and a listener named Jared sent it in to us as a clip that he loves

00:00:28.460 | And it's a clip many of you will recognize because it became a clip that got embedded into a Shane and Shane song

00:00:35.280 | Though you slay me

00:00:37.600 | Most of you have heard that song because the music video has now surpassed 7 million plays on YouTube. It's an incredible song

00:00:45.280 | Powerful music video. I know that God has used in many of your lives

00:00:49.540 | Even those of you who have watched it through a veil of tears and all of it is rooted in one sermon

00:00:56.560 | Everyone should listen to at some point. For now, here's an extended clip from Pastor John's

00:01:01.560 | 2013 sermon. Have a listen.

00:01:04.440 | So

00:01:07.360 | Paul

00:01:08.880 | really does experience not losing heart

00:01:12.200 | because of

00:01:15.360 | truths, realities that he puts into his head

00:01:18.880 | day by day

00:01:22.520 | day by day

00:01:24.560 | for renewal

00:01:26.480 | Now one more step. What about the four at the beginning of verse 17?

00:01:31.560 | Like we're gonna beat verse 16 to death if we don't move on

00:01:34.940 | But my there's a lot of life in there. He doesn't give up easy. I love to pound on verses till they're dead

00:01:42.480 | That's an odd way to say it isn't it?

00:01:47.520 | Okay

00:01:51.360 | verse 17

00:01:52.880 | Verse 16 we don't lose heart. We're gonna be renewed every day

00:01:56.120 | for

00:01:58.120 | Because

00:02:00.240 | This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory

00:02:05.760 | Beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen

00:02:09.560 | For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Verse 17 is the main

00:02:16.540 | Argument. It's the main because. The main thing. This light momentary affliction is doing something

00:02:25.840 | It's working for us an eternal weight of glory and verse all verse 18 does you say look at it

00:02:31.320 | You can't see it, but look at it

00:02:33.680 | if you look at the

00:02:35.920 | Fallenness of man coming at you with his guns or the the fall is nature coming at you with its tsunamis

00:02:41.580 | All you're gonna do is lose heart

00:02:43.580 | Stop looking at that

00:02:46.240 | Look at the unseen. We gotta say what what I'm seeing you talking about and how do you look at something that's unseen?

00:02:51.200 | That's a contradiction. Can't look at what you can't look at

00:02:53.920 | You said it's unseen, stop telling me to see it

00:02:55.920 | How do you look at

00:03:03.840 | the

00:03:06.400 | unseen so as to not lose heart and

00:03:09.760 | So as to be renewed every day and verse 17 is the main unseen thing you look at

00:03:16.240 | We do not lose heart

00:03:19.320 | Because this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory look at this he says look at this

00:03:26.960 | What do you what do you see when you look at verse?

00:03:30.320 | 17 you see him calling

00:03:34.920 | His affliction which lasted a lifetime

00:03:38.360 | Momentary

00:03:41.760 | I'm 67 people supposed you supposed to retire, right?

00:03:46.440 | Paul suffered until the sword severed his head from his body

00:03:51.360 | There was no

00:03:54.120 | Year or two of fishing if Paul was going to have a retirement it would be post beheading

00:04:00.440 | So if he didn't have this he had nothing

00:04:08.360 | He said if there's no resurrection from the dead. I'm an idiot

00:04:13.760 | That's what he said first Corinthians 15

00:04:16.000 | He called his lifelong

00:04:19.280 | beatings and

00:04:22.760 | Shipwreck and sleepless nights and agony for the church. He called it

00:04:28.640 | Momentary you see that there in verse 17 this light momentary. He called it light and he called it momentary

00:04:37.840 | That's crazy. That's not what you see

00:04:41.640 | You look at it 60 years 50. I'm not sure how old he was when he died long time 20 30 years of

00:04:48.760 | relentless imprisonments and and

00:04:51.360 | Persecution and he calls it momentary and he calls it light and and you see also

00:04:56.960 | Don't you the contrast between momentary in verse 17 is eternal and the contrast with light is weight

00:05:04.120 | So let's read again notice those parallels

00:05:07.480 | His light momentary affliction is preparing for him and eternal that corresponds to momentary

00:05:14.360 | weight that corresponds to light of

00:05:18.080 | glory

00:05:20.440 | So he could see

00:05:22.240 | See see really you can't see but he saw beyond the grave

00:05:26.920 | According to promise he saw glory the glory of God that would be seen and the glory of God that would be given to him

00:05:34.920 | and

00:05:36.640 | It made his lifelong suffering look

00:05:40.360 | Momentary and it made the weight of the pain look light

00:05:45.440 | Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will

00:05:51.160 | Give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for my yoke is

00:05:57.480 | Easy and my burden is light you are kidding me. You got to die for Jesus. You could call that light. Yes

00:06:06.920 | Why because I look to the unseen what glory

00:06:10.440 | Glory beyond the grave that's gonna so make up for this brief life

00:06:16.000 | It will look momentary and it will look light. That's the unseen you got to look at one more thing

00:06:23.400 | and this I end with this because it's just so

00:06:27.560 | So relevant for so many suffering people and so precious to me

00:06:33.760 | this word in verse 17

00:06:36.120 | preparing

00:06:38.440 | Preparing not only is all your affliction

00:06:41.240 | Momentary not only is all your affliction light in comparison to eternity and the glory there

00:06:49.640 | But all of it is totally meaningful

00:06:53.880 | That is a very controversial statement because of how much insane suffering there is in the world

00:07:02.400 | Every time something horrific happens an interviewer will say meaningless and that is what it looks like

00:07:09.120 | That's what it looks like

00:07:11.760 | See look at it. Look at it. This is meaningless these these 23 kids in India

00:07:17.160 | What did they do? They ate lunch and

00:07:20.360 | They're dead

00:07:23.080 | Or more, Oklahoma or Boston

00:07:28.520 | It's everywhere we now we've got the internet we got no excuse for not crying every day

00:07:33.320 | We put those who weep, right?

00:07:36.400 | If you don't have a theology that can cope with the internet horrors, you just better check out or get one

00:07:44.040 | This text says

00:07:47.600 | our

00:07:49.840 | light

00:07:51.400 | momentary affliction is

00:07:54.840 | Preparing for us an eternal weight. It doesn't say will be followed by an

00:08:01.400 | Eternal weight of glory that would be good enough

00:08:04.640 | That would be good enough that's not what it says

00:08:08.760 | Cut air gods. Oh my forgive the Greek. I just love it. I've got to like dump it out every now and then

00:08:15.440 | You don't need to know that the word means produced prepare cause to bring about

00:08:20.640 | I'll venture this

00:08:23.480 | every

00:08:25.160 | millisecond of

00:08:26.800 | your

00:08:28.120 | pain from the fallen nature or fallen man every

00:08:32.320 | millisecond of your misery in the path of obedience is

00:08:36.520 | Producing a peculiar glory you will get because of that

00:08:42.600 | That's a very controversial statement and I believe it so that if anybody says to me that a believers

00:08:52.360 | Suffering was meaningless. I'll

00:08:54.560 | be quiet probably because they're they're probably hurting really bad right now and I'm gonna wait and

00:09:00.760 | See when the right time is but I'm gonna come back eventually and say it wasn't

00:09:05.480 | meaningless I

00:09:07.800 | Don't care if it was cancer or criticism. I

00:09:10.640 | Don't care if it was

00:09:13.480 | slander or sickness it wasn't

00:09:16.800 | meaningless because verse 17 says

00:09:19.640 | my

00:09:21.520 | light

00:09:22.840 | momentary lifelong

00:09:24.840 | Total affliction is doing something

00:09:27.480 | It's doing something it's not meaningless, of course, you can't see what it's doing

00:09:33.300 | This is the main unseen thing verse 18 is talking about I think what's the unseen you're supposed to look at

00:09:40.200 | You're supposed to look at the the the promise of God in verse 17 that says

00:09:46.840 | Your pain is doing something for you

00:09:51.680 | You can't see it. You can't feel it either

00:09:54.480 | You see it with the eyes of faith believe it because the text says it or you lose heart

00:10:00.880 | And I'm gonna close with John the Baptist as an illustration. I love I love and groan. My name is John

00:10:07.720 | I loved all the Johns in the world

00:10:10.400 | That's a weird thing to say in the city

00:10:13.440 | If I were good enough I would

00:10:20.840 | Um, but I love John the Baptist he's in prison and you know why he's in prison

00:10:25.940 | Jesus said there is no man born of woman greater than John the Baptist

00:10:32.920 | He's in prison. You know why he's in prison because he looked the king right in the face and said you can't have her

00:10:39.120 | She is Phillips wife. You're an adulterer

00:10:43.200 | Well, that's a very dangerous thing to say to a king who has absolute authority over anybody do anything he wants

00:10:49.280 | So he puts him in jail. He's scared of him. So he hasn't killed him

00:10:52.080 | But there he sits and now it's Herod's birthday

00:10:55.120 | And he gives a party for himself

00:10:58.200 | Throws in a little bonus little sexual bonus for his guests has a stepdaughter

00:11:04.000 | dance

00:11:06.320 | Really really pleasing dance

00:11:08.320 | turns everybody on

00:11:11.200 | They're all loving it. And when she's done, he knows she's pleased to guess so

00:11:18.240 | To reward her. He says I'll give you whatever you want up to half my kingdom

00:11:21.560 | She goes to her mom

00:11:24.280 | Herodias who hates John the Baptist. He says what should I ask for?

00:11:28.080 | And her mom says ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter

00:11:33.160 | She walks back in everybody's listening. What's she gonna ask for? I want right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter

00:11:44.120 | Silence in the room King can't take it back. Okay, he whispers to his attendant

00:11:50.480 | Get it

00:11:52.720 | John sitting there in the cell

00:11:54.720 | Wondering how the kingdom is gonna come and the door opens and two guys are standing there one with a sword

00:12:01.040 | It's just moment of silence doesn't know what's going on. And the one with the sword says

00:12:06.760 | Come over here and kneel down and if you struggle we'll bind you

00:12:12.280 | And just what what what happened what?

00:12:16.720 | What's going on?

00:12:20.000 | and the executioner says

00:12:22.000 | King's daughter danced

00:12:24.560 | in the party and

00:12:26.560 | She asked for your head and we've come to get it. We're gonna take your head

00:12:31.360 | That's the last thing he has to think about in the next 20 seconds

00:12:36.920 | What would you think?

00:12:40.080 | Everything in me says God

00:12:42.080 | What can be more meaningless than a party?

00:12:46.820 | Where a girl dances asked for the greatest man on the planet's?

00:12:52.880 | Head and within two verses of the Bible. He's dead

00:12:58.360 | God

00:13:01.360 | God

00:13:03.360 | Meaningless

00:13:06.480 | absolutely meaningless way to die

00:13:09.720 | Nothing glorious about it. It stinks to high heaven

00:13:13.320 | I'll tell you I

00:13:16.160 | Hope God in his mercy put into John's head in those 20 seconds

00:13:21.680 | this

00:13:24.040 | Like momentary affliction is working for you an eternal weight of glory

00:13:28.880 | And so I I believe the main

00:13:38.560 | Because

00:13:40.560 | For not losing heart in this text is that none of your suffering is meaningless

00:13:47.600 | It'll feel that way. That's why verse 18 says don't look at what's seen

00:13:52.680 | I mean you just stand there watching that happen. You just stand there watching that happen. You're gonna kill him

00:13:58.520 | Do anything she just dance don't do that. It's meaningless. This is totally crazy. This is a

00:14:04.960 | Absurd novel this doesn't happen

00:14:08.320 | That's what that's the way you talk right? What you what your eyes are telling you is

00:14:12.640 | meaningless

00:14:14.600 | Don't look to what you see when your mom dies when your kid dies when you got cancer at 40 when a car

00:14:22.440 | Careens into the sidewalk and takes her out

00:14:26.680 | Don't say this meaningless. It's not

00:14:29.880 | It's working for you an eternal weight of glory

00:14:36.160 | therefore therefore

00:14:38.160 | Do not lose heart

00:14:41.040 | But take these truths all the ones you've heard in every message and day by day

00:14:47.920 | focus on

00:14:50.880 | Preach them to yourself every morning get alone with God and preach his word into your mind

00:14:58.720 | until your heart sings with

00:15:02.720 | Confidence that you are new and cared for so God come and do your mighty

00:15:09.720 | Work through your word and through this people in all their ministries. I pray in Jesus name

00:15:16.960 | Powerful truth as an amazing sermon clip go and listen to the whole sermon at some point is titled the glory of God in the sight

00:15:27.480 | of eternity preached on July 26 2013

00:15:30.760 | sermon on 2nd Corinthians 4 verses 16 to 18 the audio and video is at

00:15:35.760 | Desiring God org and be sure to go to youtube and watch though you slay me by Shannon Shane with the Piper sermon clip

00:15:42.080 | - if you have not it is powerful

00:15:44.080 | So Jared, thank you for reviving this clip and sending it to us

00:15:47.800 | It'll be hard to top this one

00:15:49.880 | But if you have a favorite sermon clip of Pastor John preaching send it to me

00:15:53.800 | Give me the title of the sermon and the timestamps of the audio of when the clip begins and ends

00:15:57.880 | Tell me why it's impacted you give me your name and the closest city to you and email me all those details at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org

00:16:03.640 | Put the word clip in the subject line, please if you would and maybe we can share it here on the podcast

00:16:10.160 | Next up is faultless chastity

00:16:14.080 | faultless chastity too high of a standard for

00:16:18.600 | pastors

00:16:20.200 | To boot a pastor from their role for sexual sin. Isn't that too harsh?

00:16:26.280 | Question on the minds of a few listeners at least and it's up next time. I'm your host Tony Reinke. We will see you on Friday

00:16:33.000 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

My Suffering Feels Meaningless — What Can I Do?