Transcript HOLY SPIRIT - Erskine College

THE PROBLEM OF PAIN
The Scream, E. Munch, http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/
FINAL THOUGHTS 1:
The Role of Lament
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS
• “When confronted with enemies, we
should go directly to the Psalms if we are
not sure how to feel or what to say. In
them we are given exactly what we
need. What the Psalms do is lean against
some of our natural instincts. When we
are inclined to take matters into our own
hands, the Psalms teach us to trust God.
When we would insulate ourselves from
pain, they teach us to trust God.” Welch,
When People are Big, 187
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS
• “The Psalms are often so precise in
articulating our sufferings that we
think they were written just for us.
And that is true- they were written
for us . . .” Welch, When People are
Big, 187
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS: 13
• Psalm 13:1-6 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A
PSALM OF DAVID. How long, O LORD? Will
you forget me forever? How long will you hide
your face from me? 2 How long must I take
counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my
heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be
exalted over me? 3 Consider and answer me,
O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep
the sleep of death, 4 lest my enemy say, "I
have prevailed over him," lest my foes rejoice
because I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in
your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in
your salvation. 6 I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS: 22
• Psalm 22:1-8 TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING
TO THE DOE OF THE DAWN. A PSALM OF DAVID. My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are
you so far from saving me, from the words of my
groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not
answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are
holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our
fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they
trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a
worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and
despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 "He
trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue
him, for he delights in him!"
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS: 38
• Psalm 38:1-9 A PSALM OF DAVID, FOR THE
MEMORIAL OFFERING. O LORD, rebuke me not in
your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! 2 For
your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has
come down on me. 3 There is no soundness in my
flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in
my bones because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have
gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too
heavy for me. 5 My wounds stink and fester because
of my foolishness, 6 I am utterly bowed down and
prostrate; all the day I go about mourning. 7 For my
sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness
in my flesh. 8 I am feeble and crushed; I groan
because of the tumult of my heart. 9 O Lord, all my
longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from
you.
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS: 51
• Psalm 51:1-12 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM OF DAVID,
WHEN NATHAN THE PROPHET WENT TO HIM, AFTER HE HAD
GONE IN TO BATHSHEBA. Have mercy on me, O God, according
to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out
my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and
cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my
sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and
done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in
your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach
me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I
shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let
me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken
rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my
iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a
right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy
of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS: 70
• Psalm 70:1-5 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. OF
DAVID, FOR THE MEMORIAL OFFERING. Make
haste, O God, to deliver me! O LORD, make
haste to help me! 2 Let them be put to shame
and confusion who seek my life! Let them be
turned back and brought to dishonor who
desire my hurt! 3 Let them turn back because
of their shame who say, "Aha, Aha!" 4 May all
who seek you rejoice and be glad in you! May
those who love your salvation say evermore,
"God is great!" 5 But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God! You are my help and my
deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS: 140
• Psalm 140:1-8 TO THE CHOIRMASTER. A PSALM
OF DAVID. Deliver me, O LORD, from evil men;
preserve me from violent men, 2 who plan evil things
in their heart and stir up wars continually. 3 They
make their tongue sharp as a serpent's, and under
their lips is the venom of asps. Selah 4 Guard me, O
LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me
from violent men, who have planned to trip up my
feet. 5 The arrogant have hidden a trap for me, and
with cords they have spread a net; beside the way
they have set snares for me. Selah 6 I say to the
LORD, You are my God; give ear to the voice of my
pleas for mercy, O LORD! 7 O LORD, my Lord, the
strength of my salvation, you have covered my head in
the day of battle. 8 Grant not, O LORD, the desires of
the wicked; do not further their evil plot or they will be
exalted! Selah
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LAMENT AND THE PSALMS: 143
• Psalm 143:1-9 A PSALM OF DAVID. Hear my prayer,
O LORD; give ear to my pleas for mercy! In your
faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! 2 Enter
not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is
righteous before you. 3 For the enemy has pursued my
soul; he has crushed my life to the ground; he has made
me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4 Therefore my
spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled. 5
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you
have done; I ponder the work of your hands. 6 I stretch
out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a
parched land. Selah 7 Answer me quickly, O LORD! My
spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like
those who go down to the pit. 8 Let me hear in the
morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make
me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my
soul. 9 Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD! I have
fled to you for refuge!
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FINAL THOUGHTS 2:
The Role of the Cross
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• “To be more specific, King David spoke
on behalf of the greater king, King Jesus.
The enemies of which he spoke are
those of Jesus; the sufferings of which
he spoke are those of the Messiah. . . .
We will find that Jesus’ pain was greater
than our own. As P.J. Forsyth said, ‘What
happens to the sinful creatures of God,
however tragic, is less monstrous than
what happened to the Son of God.’”
Welch, When People are Big, 187-8
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• Psalm 22:1-3, “My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? Why
are you so far from saving me, from
the words of my groaning? O my
God, I cry by day, but you do not
answer, and by night, but I find no
rest. Yet you are holy, enthroned
on the praises of Israel.”
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• Lamentations 1:12, “Is it nothing to
you, all you who pass by? Look and see
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
which was brought upon me, which the
LORD inflicted on the day of his fierce
anger.”
• Lamentations 1:16, “For these things I
weep; my eyes flow with tears; for a
comforter is far from me, one to revive
my spirit; my children are desolate, for
the enemy has prevailed.”
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• Isaiah 53:4-6, “Surely he has borne
our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet
we esteemed him stricken, smitten by
God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions; he was crushed
for our iniquities; upon him was the
chastisement that brought us peace, and
with his stripes we are healed. All we like
sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every one to his own way; and the LORD
has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• Matthew 26:37-39, “And taking with
him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
he began to be sorrowful and troubled.
Then he said to them, ‘My soul is very
sorrowful, even to death; remain here,
and watch with me.’ And going a little
farther he fell on his face and prayed,
saying, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not
as I will, but as you will.’”
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli,
Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?’”
• Hebrews 5:7-8, “In the days of his flesh,
Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears, to him who was able
to save him from death, and he was heard
because of his reverence. Although he was a
son, he learned obedience through what he
suffered.”
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
“‘On your back with you!’ One raised a
mallet to sink in the spike. But the
soldier's heart must continue pumping as
he readies the prisoner's wrist. Someone
must sustain the soldier's life minute by
minute, for no man has this power on his
own. Who supplies breath to his lungs?
Who gives energy to his cells? Who holds
his molecules together? Only by the Son
do ‘all things hold together’ (Colossians
1:17). The victim wills that the soldier live
on- he grants the warrior's continued
existence.
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
The victim wills that the soldier live on- he
grants the warrior's continued existence.
The man swings. As the man swings, the
Son recalls how he and the Father first
designed the medial nerve of the human
forearm- the sensations it would be
capable of. The design proves flawlessthe nerve performs exquisitely. ‘Up you
go!’ They lift the cross. God is on display
in his underwear, and can scarcely
breathe.
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
But these pains are a mere warm-up to
his other and growing dread. He begins to
feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere
during this day an unearthly foul odor
began to waft, not around his nose, but
his heart. He feels dirty. Human
wickedness starts to crawl upon his
spotless being- the living excrement from
our souls. The apple of his Father's eye
turns brown with rot. His Father! He must
face his Father like this!
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
From heaven the Father now rouses
himself like a lion disturbed, shakes his
mane, and roars against the shriveling
remnant of a man hanging on a cross.
Never has the Son seen the Father look at
him so, never felt even the least of his hot
breath. But the roar shakes the unseen
world and darkens the visible sky. The Son
does not recognize these eyes. ‘Son of
Man! Why have you behaved so? You have
cheated, lusted, stolen, gossipedmurdered, envied, hated, lied.
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
You have cursed, robbed, overspent,
overeaten- fornicated, disobeyed,
embezzled, and blasphemed. Oh the duties
you have shirked, the children you have
abandoned. Who has ever so ignored the
poor, so played the coward, so belittled my
name? Have you ever held your razor
tongue? What a self-righteous, pitiful drunkyou, who molest young boys, peddle killer
drugs, travel in cliques, and mock your
parents.
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
Who gave you the boldness to rig elections,
foment revolutions, torture animals, and
worship demons? Does the list never end!
Splitting families, raping virgins, acting
smugly, playing the pimp- buying politicians,
practicing extortion, filming pornography,
accepting bribes. You have burned down
buildings, perfected terrorist tactics, founded
false religions, traded in slaves- relishing
each morsel and bragging about it all. I
hate, I loathe these things in you. Disgust
for everything about you consumes me!
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
Can you not feel my wrath?’ Of course the
Son is innocent. He is blamelessness itself.
The Father knows this. But the divine pair
have an agreement, and the unthinkable
must now take place. Jesus will be treated
as if personally responsible for every sin
ever committed. The Father watches as his
heart's treasure, the mirror-image of
himself, sinks drowning into raw, liquid sin.
Jehovah's stored rage against humankind
from every century explodes in a single
direction.
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
‘Father! Father! Why have you forsaken
me?!’ But heaven stops its ears. The Son
stares up at the One who cannot, who
will not, reach down or reply. The Trinity
had planned it. The Son endured it. The
Spirit enabled him. The Father rejected
the Son whom he loved. Jesus, the GodMan from Nazareth perished. The Father
accepted his sacrifice for sin and was
satisfied. The Rescue was accomplished.
. . .”
Tada and Estes, When God Weeps, 53,54
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• “At the recent Christian Counselor’s world
conference, Diane Langberg, told of her
work among adult survivors of sexual
abuse. Among her counselees was a
woman who in her teen years was
stripped naked and gang-raped. In
addition to the sheer trauma of such an
atrocity, the woman felt utterly betrayed
and abandoned by God. After some time
. . . the matter of her anger at God, her
bitter and anguished cry and her
questions of Him, remained unabated.
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• After some time, Langberg prayerfully
asked her to reflect on just a phrase,
three words actually, from Matthew’s
account of the passion of Jesus, and,
without prescribing what she would
get out of the passage (Matt.
27:28a), suggested the woman
simply listen, to see if God had
anything to say to her.
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• The woman came back the next
session exclaiming, ‘They took his
clothes! They took his clothes too!
Jesus knows what it was like for me
because he suffered too!’ . . . Lament
can lead one to the cross; and the
cross always leads one to Jesus, the
perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2), and
the one who, by his wounds, heals us
(Is. 53:5 NIV).” Dr. Robby Bell, Inaugural Address,
ETS, 7Nov05
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FINAL THOUGHTS: The Cross
• “ . . . We have seen how the cross powerfully
addresses the destructive effects of human hurts.
But the cross also reveals much about the process
of healing. The extended arms of Jesus on the
cross illustrate the crucial first step in the healing
process: Jesus opens himself to the excruciating
pain. He makes himself vulnerable. He holds
nothing back. With his exposed heart and painracked body, Jesus embraces the agony of the
cross. His outspread arms teach us that healing
happens not by avoiding suffering but by
accepting and actively bearing it. Those on the
healing path must be willing to walk into and
through- not away from or around- pain.”
Steven Seamands, Wounds That Heal, 113
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FINAL THOUGHTS 3:
The Last Word
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THE QUESTION
• “‘So, Diana says you’re big into the Bible.
Tell me, do you think God had anything
to do with my breaking my neck?’ She
casually brushed a wisp of hair from her
forehead with the back of her wrist, but
those eyes were anything but casual.”
• Question posed by Joni Eareckson to
Steve Estes, summer 1969 (co-authors of
When God Weeps, 12)
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THE RESPONSE
• “I know what the Bible says about her
question. A dozen passages come to
mind from years of church and a
Christian dad who taught his kids well.
But I’ve never test-driven those truths on
such a difficult course. Nothing worse
than a D in algebra or puppy-love-gonesour has ever happened to me. But I
think, If the Bible can’t work in this girl’s
life—it never was for real.”
When God Weeps, 12
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THE RESPONSE
• “I clear my throat and jump off the
cliff. ‘God put you in that chair, Joni.
I don’t know why, but if you’ll trust
him instead of fighting him, you’ll
find out why—if not in this life, then
in the next. He let you break your
neck because he loved you.’” When God
Weeps, 12
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THE LAST WORD
• “What is the ultimate solution to the problem
of pain and suffering? Restoration. Through
Job’s restoration, God’s purposes are most
clearly seen. Pain is not to be philosophized
away through ‘rational thinking,’ talked out,
ventilated through catharsis, marginalized,
medicated into oblivion, ignored, given a ‘silver
lining,’ or explained. Only the hope of
restoration and the knowledge that God has a
purpose behind and beyond the pain, enables
the suffering Christian to endure the pain
faithfully, in hope of Christ’s return.” Schwab, 41
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THE PROBLEM OF PAIN
The Scream, E. Munch, http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/munch/