Bulletins - Cornerstone Independent Baptist Church (Enola, PA)

Introduction
Turn to 2 Corinthians 4:17
“Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?”
I’ve been asked that question on more than one occasion.
There was one time that a grieving and bitter woman called me and asked me that question. I realized rather quickly that she wasn’t so much looking for an answer as she was looking to vent her frustration with God.
But this week I was sitting across the table from someone in a restaurant when they asked me that question. This time, all evidence indicated it was a genuine question coming from a teachable heart and it sparked an enjoyable conversation. From that, I decided it would be an appropriate time to answer that question from this pulpit.
Imagine a six-year-old sitting in a dentist's chair. The dentist tells him, “This is going to hurt a little.” Then the dentist gives him an injection, drills into his tooth, and spends the next twenty minutes doing something that, from the child's perspective, is awful.
If you asked the child afterward, “Did something bad happen to you?” he would probably say, “Absolutely! The dentist stuck me with a needle and drilled a hole in my tooth!”
But ask the dentist the same question: “Did something bad happen to that boy?” The dentist would say, “No. Something painful happened to him, but I was treating something that was wrong. What looked bad from his perspective was actually an act of kindness on my part.”
Obviously, our perspective matters. Notice Paul’s perspective in our text.
Read 2 Corinthians 4:17
Light affliction.
Those are two words that in my vocabulary don’t go together.
Paul put them together, though.
Why?
Because in light of eternity, that’s all that it is. Suffering here is just a brief moment compared to glorious fellowship in the presence of our Savior.
verses 7-18
Paul preached the gospel in reliance upon the power of God.
Ministering the gospel in human vessels brought about many troubles as listed in verses 8-10, but God sustains (v 11-16).
Paul chose to remember future glory.
It’s important that we have Paul’s perspective as we consider tonight’s question. You see, the Bible challenges the idea that we are ‘good people’ who deserve only good things. And second, it challenges the idea that everything painful that happens to us is therefore meaningless or ultimately bad. Paul understood this. He recognized that the suffering in his life wasn’t necessarily bad because it served a much higher purpose.
“Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?”
Next slide here:
So that God may teach us - Psalm 119:67, 71
Turn to and read Psalm 119:67, 71
The reality is this: there’s a lot of lessons we won’t learn in life unless we learn them the hard way.
Both in the classroom and in life, I generally stop learning when I settle into my seat and get comfortable.
God uses suffering to teach us. Not in a sinister or dark way. He doesn’t delight in our suffering, but He does delight to use it for good.
Quickly I want to show you just some of the things that God wants to teach us:
Next slide here:
Humility - Deut 8:2-3
The forty years that Israel wandered in the wilderness were not wasted years - not from God’s perspective. Oh, they were forty years that never should have happened, but when that generation of Israel rejected God, God used it for good. He humbled Israel and taught Israel to depend on Him.
Application: Without suffering, we grow independent of God.
Next slide here:
Comfort - 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Turn to 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
I had a professor in Bible college who was by no means a wimp. He served as the Dean of Men for a number of years and all of the guys learned that he was not a man to be trifled with. He was kind, but he knew how to be firm and put the fear of God in you too.
You know what he would say? He would jokingly say, “You ask my wife and she’ll tell you: I am allergic to pain.”
I can relate to that. I don’t care for pain, but I sure like the comfort that a bandage provides.
Read 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Application: Anytime God allows suffering into our lives, you can bank on it: He will provide comfort as well. And He will provide it so that you can comfort others also.
Next slide here:
Obedience - Hebrews 5:8
Turn to and read Hebrews 5:8-9
The perfect Son of God was nonetheless taught in the school of his human experience. He learned obedience, and this learning prepared Him for the cross.
Application: Do you realize that God has the same goal in your life? To teach you greater obedience?
You and I may be satisfied with our measure of obedience to our Lord, but God, lovingly, is not. He sees us as we are: a work in progress. Suffering is part of that work.
Next slide here:
Faith - 1 Peter 1:6-7
Turn to and read 1 Peter 1:6-7
God compares the testing of our faith to the purifying of gold. Evidently God puts a high priority on our growing in faith! Gold wears out and perishes! But our faith, when it passes through the fire, endures and brings glory to our Savior!
But take heart, Christian, because when your faith is being tested, you are not alone!
Let us, then, ever remember that the Lord is nigh us. The refiner is never far from the mouth of the furnace when his gold is in the fire, and the Son of God is always walking in the midst of the flames when his holy children are cast into them. - C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Volume One, Part One, pg 110
Next slide here:
Patience - James 1:2-4
This list of what God teaches us would not be complete without mentioning patience.
Don’t resent this one, church family. Don’t wish that it weren’t so.
Illustration: freshmen going to college. Not a single one of us would choose the class on patience as an elective.
Application: You and I have a mighty hard time learning patience all by ourselves. We need someone to teach us. So God lovingly teaches does that in the school of suffering.
Conclusion
Read slowly:
Christian, let God teach you. It is an honor to sit at His feet and learn! There is no better university than the university of Heaven. There is no better teacher than God himself. He knows the exact lesson you need in life. He knows the exact amount of pressure to apply. He knows the perfect time to give you a test. He does not grade on a bellcurve! He wants every student to succeed and none to fail, but to pass the test we must accept the lessons that He gives us.
It is one of the reasons why God allows “bad things” to happen to “good people.”

Introduction

Conclusion