GOD’S WORD FOR OCTOBER 5 ~ ~Psalm 118:22-24 ~ ~ “ The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.”

From the book, “We Shall See God” with writings by Charles Haddon Spurgeon and Randy Alcorn.

“Godly Optimism” Part 2

RANDY ALCORN:

Charles Spurgeon wrote this sermon (yesterday’s writing) near the end of his life, at a time when he was seldom able to preach. In the printed version of the sermon, distributed around the world later that same week, this statement was added, helping readers appreciate the context in which Spurgeon spoke powerful words about joy and rejoicing:

“Mr. Spurgeon has been very seriously ill, but the prayers of the Lord’s people, at the Tabernacle and elsewhere, have been graciously answered on his behalf. Hearty thanksgiving should be rendered to the Lord for his partial recovery, joined with earnest supplication for his complete restoration to health and strength. Both Mr. and Mrs. Spurgeon are deeply grateful for the widespread sympathy that has been manifested during this season of severe trial.”

Spurgeon’s partial recovery was brief. That he died only six months later makes all the more potent his words about the grounds for rejoicing.

Secular optimists are merely wishful thinkers. Discovering present payoffs of optimism, they conduct seminars and write books on thinking positively. Sometimes they capitalize on optimism by becoming rich and famous. But then what happens? They eventually get old or sick, and when they die, if they haven’t trusted Christ, they go to hell forever. Their optimism is an illusion, for it fails to take eternity into account.

The only proper foundation for optimism is the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Any other foundation is sand, not rock. It will not bear the weight of eternity.

If we build our lives on the redemptive work of Christ, we should all be optimists. Why? Because even our most painful experience in life is but a temporary setback. Our pain and suffering may or may not be relieved in this life, but they will certainly be relieved in the next. That is Christ’s promise—no more death or pain. He will wipe away all our tears (Revelation 21:40). He took our sufferings on Himself so that one day He might remove all suffering from us, which is the biblical foundation for our optimism. No Christian should be a pessimist. We should be realists, focused on the reality that we serve a sovereign and gracious God. Because of the certainty of Christ’s atoning sacrifice and His promises, biblical realism is optimism.

We see the optimism in Spurgeon’s teaching on the biblical text about God having made us for joy and rejoicing. Knowing that it will be relieved doesn’t make suffering easy, but it does make suffering bearable. Hope allows us to have joy even in the midst of suffering. Paul says, “I rejoice in my sufferings” (Colossians 1:24) and James says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (James 1:2). The apostles didn’t enjoy their suffering, but they rejoiced in the midst of it because they trusted God’s sovereign plan.

Our optimism is not that of the “health and wealth gospel”, which claims that God will spare us from suffering here and now. Peter says, “Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” (1Peter 4:13). Christ’s future glory, in which we will participate, is the reason for our present rejoicing in the midst of suffering.

Anticipating heaven doesn’t eliminate pain, but it does lessen it and put it in perspective. Meditating on heaven is a great pain reliever. Suffering and death are temporary conditions—they are but a gateway to eternal life of unending joy. The biblical doctrine of heaven is about the future, but it has tremendous benefits here and now. If we grasp this truth, it will shift our center of gravity and radically change our perspective on life. This is what the Bible calls “hope”, a word used six times in Romans 8:20-25. In this passage, Paul says that all creation longs for our resurrection and the world’s coming redemption.

Don’t place your hope in favorable circumstances, which cannot and will not last. Place your hope in Christ and his promises. He WILL return. We WILL be resurrected to life on the new earth. We WILL behold God’s face and joyfully serve him forever and ever. WE WILL, in fact, live happily ever after. That is not a fairy tale; it is the blood-bought promise of Almighty God!!

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John 16:33

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

James 1:2-4

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Psalm 34:17-22

The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
He guards all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
Evil shall slay the wicked,
And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned.
The Lord redeems the soul of His servants,
And none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.

Ps 96: 7-13

Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.

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