GOSPEL HOPE PAUL DAVID TRIPP
STUDY GUIDE TO ACCOMPANY VIDEO LESSONS Written by Vaneetha Risner
ABOUT PAUL DAVID TRIPP Paul David Tripp is a pastor, author, and speaker. He wrote the bestselling daily devotional, New Morning Mercies , along with many other titles such as Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense . In 2006, he launched a not-for-profit organization, Paul Tripp Ministries, to produce and distribute free Bible teaching around the world that connects the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Paul and his wife, Luella, have been married since 1971 and have four adult children.
PaulTripp.com /PDTripp @PaulTrippQuotes @PaulTripp /PaulDavidTripp
© 2026 Paul Tripp Ministries All rights reserved. Teaching@PaulTripp.com 21 N. Main St., Suite 8, Coopersburg, PA 18036 (215) 338-4000 Permissions
You are permitted to print and/or electronically distribute this Study Guide provided that you do not charge for the material or alter the content in any way. You may download the video lessons for offline use, but please do not distribute the video in any way and rather link back to and use Paul Tripp Ministries' online video player. If you require exceptions, please email Teaching@PaulTripp.com. Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.
Contents
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How to Use This Series
SESSION 1 When Life Doesn't Make Sense
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SESSION 2 Why Am I Suffering?
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SESSION 3 God Meets Us in Our Suffering
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Outline
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Transcript
How to Use This Series Thank you for choosing this video series by Paul Tripp Ministries! Our prayer is that this resource will be used by God to transform and strengthen you. If you have any questions, please contact our team: Teaching@PaulTripp.com. This series can be used by individuals, couples, and groups. We recommend a minimum of 60 minutes for each session so you have enough time to watch the video teaching together and spend time discussing. Of course, there is flexibility based on your circumstances, but this curriculum has been written for you to simply follow the "order of service" outlined in the Study Guide. Each session would begin with Group Participation: • Begin with How Did It Go Last Week? (Which you can skip the first gathering). This is an opportunity to share successes and trials with the group, based on what was learned and applied from the previous session. • Then, someone (or all together) would read aloud the Bible verses found in And God Said... • Likewise, someone would then read aloud What is the Point? , identifying the main points in the video session about to come so participants are prepared for what Paul Tripp will be teaching. • Together, everyone would pray the Petition , preparing hearts to receive the Word. • You then would watch the video session, Hear the Word . Each video is approximately 25 minutes. • After watching the video, spend the remaining time in your gathering using Let's Talk About That . An abundance of discussion questions have been provided, knowing that not all of them might be touched due to time restraints (or, if one or two particular questions take up the majority of the discussion!). • After the gathering concludes and before the next group session, For Personal Application material has been provided for individuals or couples to use as "homework" or for devotional and confessional life. • A note specifically about For More From Paul Tripp, Read: If you are interested in the topic presented in this session, this section will direct you to our recommended resources to learn more. Why Transcripts? You will notice that full transcripts of Paul's video lessons have been included at the end of this Study Guide. This is to allow for a quick keyword search or a full reading of the sessions for those who desire it. If you plan to print off a hard copy of this Study Guide to distribute to your group, you may want to only print off the sessions and exclude the transcripts!
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Session 1 When Life Doesn't Make Sense
FOR GROUP PARTICIPATION These elements of the study are best used with others in a group setting.
How Did It Go Last Week? Share your successes and trials with the group. (10 minutes) In the coming sessions, questions and topics will be provided here for group discussion of your experiences in putting into practice what you learn each week. And God Said… Have a volunteer read aloud Genesis 22:1–8 . What is the Point? Read these statements aloud and keep them in mind during the video. (5 minutes) • When life doesn’t make sense, you’ll always preach to yourself some kind of gospel. • What you bring to your suffering shapes the way you suffer. • When life doesn’t make sense, you rise as a worshiper of God or you rise as an accuser of God. Petition Pray this together aloud. Oh Lord, we confess that when life doesn’t make sense, often we want to blame you, and accuse you of not loving us because we don’t understand what you are doing. We want comfort more than we want to be conformed to your image. We know you are good but sometimes we don’t feel that you are being good to us. Reshape our hearts to trust you more. And help us to know, not just intellectually but to truly believe, that you love us extravagantly. Hear the Word
Watch the video. (26 minutes) Let's Talk About That Discuss these questions. (30 minutes) 1. What were one or two of your biggest takeaways from today’s message?
2. Read 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 . What do you think it means to boast in our weakness? Have you ever seen the benefits of relying on God’s strength instead of your own? If so, what were those benefits? 3. Paul mentioned the blessings that God has given us, including his presence, his grace, his promises and his power. Looking back on a difficult season, which of those was hardest for you to
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see and appreciate at the time? Which blessings were the most meaningful to you? 4. Read Psalm 13:1–2 . Are these words surprising to you? Why or why not? What does this Psalm suggest about how honest we can be with God? Have you ever been that honest in prayer? 5. Our internal dialogue shapes the way we experience suffering. What are some things you tend to tell yourself in your suffering? Which of those reflect gospel truth, and which do not? 6. Read Hosea 7:14 , Psalm 63:6 . Night often reveals what weighs most heavily on us. What tends to occupy your thoughts when you can’t sleep? 7. Read Genesis 22:1–8 . What stands out to you about Abraham’s response to God? What does this passage reveal about trusting God when the outcome is unclear? Have you ever faced a situation where there was no way out in a human sense, but God made a way that surprised you? 8. Elisabeth Elliot said, “The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God.” Where—if anywhere—have you seen that to be true in your own life?
FOR PERSONAL APPLICATION These aspects of the study can be used in between group sessions on your own, either with your spouse or individually as part of your devotional and confession life.
Do Something During the week ahead, turn your learning into doing. 1. Pay attention to your self-talk.
At the end of each day, notice some of the things you said to yourself when things went wrong or didn’t go as planned. Write them down. Then ask yourself: What was I believing about God, myself, or my circumstances in those moments? Write down how you might view those same situations through the lens of trusting in God’s goodness. 2. Reflect on God's blessings. Read Ephesians 1:3–14. Make a list of the blessings God has given you in Christ. Notice which ones you tend to take for granted or rarely think about. Ask God to help you see the beauty of those blessings and to remember them more readily, especially in times of difficulty. 3. Anchor yourself in what is true. Look up the following verses and write them in your own words: • 2 Corinthians 12:9–10 • 2 Peter 1:3 • 2 Corinthians 4:17 Choose one verse to memorize. Write it on a notecard or keep it somewhere visible as a reminder of what is true when suffering clouds your perspective.
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Search Me, O God For introspection during the coming week.
We live between the world of God’s grace and presence and the world of pain, loss, and betrayal. Which one has your attention right now? As you reflect, consider what you are preaching to yourself in this season. Take some unhurried time to consider the truths about God that are greater than what you see and feel in the moment. For More From Paul Tripp: Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense
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Session 2 Why Am I Suffering?
FOR GROUP PARTICIPATION These elements of the study are best used with others in a group setting.
How Did It Go Last Week? Share successes and struggles, based on what you learned and applied last week. These questions are just a springboard for discussion. (10 minutes) Share with the group some of the self-talk you noticed. How did things change for you as you viewed your circumstances through the lens of God’s goodness? Share what Scripture you chose to memorize and why you chose it. When something is “sticky,” it stays with us. Share what was “stickiest” for you this week from Paul’s teaching and the last group discussion. And God Said… Have a volunteer read aloud Romans 8:18–25 . What is the Point? Read these statements aloud and keep them in mind during the video. (5 minutes) • Suffering is a universal human experience; it is not an indication that God is punishing you. • Your disappointment is directly related to whatever expectations you were carrying. • Rest is not found in understanding the future but entrusting ourselves to the one who holds the future. Petition Pray this together aloud. We know that you have good reasons why we suffer, and yet in the moment, we confess that none of them seem good to us. We wonder why you are silent and haven’t fixed our situations or answered our prayers exactly the way we asked. Open our eyes to see that our suffering is never meaningless, and that you have purpose in everything you do. Help us to root our hope in your goodness, and to remember that though we are surprised by our suffering, you never are. Thank you for preparing us today for what will happen in the future, and for the assurance that you will walk through every moment of it with us. Hear the Word
Watch the video. (26 minutes) Let's Talk About That Discuss these questions. (30 minutes) 1. What were one or two of your biggest takeaways from today’s message?
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2. Read Romans 8:1 . Can anyone put that verse in your own words? Have you ever felt like suffering was a punishment? When that thought comes up, what from today’s talk can help you respond to yourself? 3. Paul laid out a theology of suffering and shared five New Testament reasons that Christians suffer. Which of those stood out to you the most and why? 4. Read Romans 8:18–25 . What does this passage teach us about the nature of suffering and the world we live in? 5. Read 1 Peter 1:6–7 . Warren Weirsbe said: “When God puts His own people into the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. He knows how long and how much.” What is your reaction to that statement, especially in light of this passage? 6. Read 2 Corinthians 1:3–9 . What stands out to you from this passage? Have you ever received comfort from someone who shared their experiences in trial—or been able to comfort someone else? What impact did that have? 7. Read 2 Corinthians 4:7–12 . Have you ever felt weak in serving or called to do something that felt beyond your ability or comfort zone? In the talk, Paul said “Your weakness preaches the gospel.” In what ways is that comforting? In what ways is it challenging? 8. Read Psalm 23:1–2 . How can that be a good picture of rest? How does it connect to the statement “Rest is found in entrusting yourself to the one who holds the future and understands it all.” FOR PERSONAL APPLICATION These aspects of the study can be used in between group sessions on your own, either with your spouse or individually as part of your devotional and confession life. Do Something During the week ahead, turn your learning into doing. 1. Reflect on the reasons Christians suffer. Read the following passages Paul mentioned in his talk, each of which corresponds to a different reason Christians suffer: • Romans 8:18–25 • 1 Peter 1:6-7 • 1 Corinthians 1:3–9 • 2 Corinthians 4:7–10 • 1 Peter 4:12–19 As you read, write down one reason for suffering you see in each passage, drawing on both Scripture and Paul’s message.
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Next, write these five reasons in a simple list. Try to explain each one in your own words and share them with someone else this week. 2. Apply these truths to your own experience. As you face something difficult in the days ahead, pause and ask yourself: Which of these reasons might help me understand what God could be doing in this situation? 3. Anchor yourself in what is true. Look up the following verses and write them in your own words: • 1 Peter 1:6–7 • Psalm 23:1 • 2 Corinthians 4:7 Choose one verse to memorize. Put it on a notecard or somewhere visible to remind you of what is true when suffering feels confusing or overwhelming. Search Me, O God For introspection during the coming week. Reflect on a major trial—or a season of significant difficulty—you have been through. What did you see God do in the midst of it? Looking back, did it ultimately draw you closer to God or farther away? When have you been able to share with others something comforting or encouraging that God showed you through your trial? When I serve my children—would Jesus want them to love each other as I love them? Do my children know that they are sinners in need of a Savior? Or do I overlook, excuse and justify their faults? Have I inadvertently taught them that they are OK and can blame others for their own sin? Or do I confront them, on necessary occasions, and guide them to Jesus to confess their sin and to receive his forgiveness and transforming grace? For More From Paul Tripp: Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense
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Session 3 God Meets Us in Our Suffering
FOR GROUP PARTICIPATION These elements of the study are best used with others in a group setting.
How Did It Go Last Week? Share successes and struggles, based on what you learned and applied last week. These questions are just a springboard for discussion. (10 minutes) Share with the group which reason for suffering was most meaningful to you this week and whether you were able to apply it to something you were going through. If you had the opportunity to share the five reasons for suffering with a friend, describe how that conversation went and whether it helped solidify what you learned. Share what Scripture you chose to memorize and why you chose it. Share what was “stickiest” for you this week from Paul’s teaching and the last group discussion. And God Said… Have a volunteer read Romans 8:26–30 . What is the Point? Read these statements aloud and keep them in mind during the video. (5 minutes) • The Spirit knows and understands everything that you are feeling, and is carrying to the Father your groans, translating what you can’t even verbalize yourself. • Your suffering is not a failure of God’s redemptive plan. And with his redeeming grace comes everything you need — all of God’s promises. • God knows exactly what you need and will provide it. Sometimes suffering is the provision because weakness is a workroom for God’s grace. Petition Pray this together aloud. Lord, I don’t even know what I need. And when I’m struggling, I don’t even know what to ask for. Thank you for understanding our groans and meeting them with your grace. Help us to keep groaning, crying out to you with our wordless prayers, knowing you hear and act on those as well. Keep reminding us that you are working out everything in our lives for our good and for your glory, and that our suffering is part of that. Help us to listen to your voice and trust in your love. Hear the Word
Watch the video. (29 minutes) Let's Talk About That Discuss these questions. (30 minutes)
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4. What were your biggest takeaways from today’s message? 5. Read Romans 8:26 . Have you seen groaning as a legitimate way to pray, or do you feel you need to offer God a lot of words? Before Paul’s talk, would you have seen “God help me” as a holy prayer? 6. How does knowing that the Spirit intercedes for us change the way you think about prayer, especially in times of suffering? 7. Read Romans 8:28 . Has anyone ever quoted that verse when you were in crisis? How did you respond, or how do you think you would have responded? Read Romans 8:29–30 . How do these verses shape or change the meaning of Romans 8:28 ? 8. Read Revelation 21:1–5 . What do you find encouraging about this passage? Does this picture of what is to come change your perspective on suffering? Why or why not? 9. What are your what-ifs, meaning your fears that the worst will happen and God will not come through? Can anyone put Romans 8:32 in their own words? How does this verse speak to those fears? 10. Paul said in his talk that “ sometimes the suffering is the provision ” and “ weakness is a workroom for grace. ” What do those statements mean to you? Have you ever experienced the truth of either one? Explain. 11. Read Romans 8:38–39 . In your suffering have you ever been assaulted by thoughts and questions like: “ If God loves me, why did this happen ?” Since we know God loves us, how does changing the question to “ Because God loves me, why did this happen? ” affect what you tell yourself in suffering?
FOR PERSONAL APPLICATION These aspects of the study can be used in between group sessions on your own, either with your spouse or individually as part of your devotional and confession life.
Do Something During the week ahead, turn your learning into doing. 1. Notice what God is doing for you.
Read Romans 8:26–39 carefully. As you read, write down all the things God is doing for you in this passage and all that he has promised you. Pay attention to how active God is throughout
these verses, especially in the midst of suffering. 2. Share what you are learning with someone else.
Think about someone in your life who is struggling. Prayerfully consider how you might share with them what you’ve learned through this series. Follow up with a phone call, an in-person conversation, or even a text, to encourage them.
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3. Anchor yourself in what is true. Look up the following verses and write them in your own words:
• Romans 8:32 • Romans 8:26 • Romans 8:38 Choose one verse to memorize. Put it on a notecard or somewhere visible to remind you of what is true when suffering feels heavy or confusing. Search Me, O God For introspection during the coming week. Reflect on what you’ve learned through this series and how this is changing what you are telling yourself in your suffering. Ask the Lord, by his Spirit, to keep bringing to mind the truths and principles that you need to hold on to when suffering lands on your doorstep. For More From Paul Tripp: Suffering: Gospel Hope When Life Doesn't Make Sense
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Outline SESSION 1 I. Introduction: Paul Tripp’s suffering story II. There are moments when life doesn’t make sense. A. We all live in two worlds: 1. God’s grace 2. Suffering B. It feels impossible to hold these two worlds together.
III. The gospel we preach to ourselves affects the way we suffer. A. You always preach to yourself a gospel: the true love of Christ or a false gospel.
B. You are the preacher that you listen to more than anyone else. C. Our response to suffering affects our experience of suffering. 1. Suffering is never a neutral experience.
2. What you bring to your suffering shapes the way you suffer. 3. Most of us suffer both the situation and the way we suffer it. 4. Preaching a false gospel to ourselves can deepen our discouragement. IV. Abraham’s suffering story: Genesis 22:1–8 A. The situation: 1. Abraham waited past human possibility for God to fulfill his promise. 2. God fulfilled the promise, but God asks him to sacrifice. B. Abraham’s response: 1. Obeying and trusting God will provide 2. Laying the stones neatly in order: a heart at rest 3. Being convinced he wasn’t alone 4. Trusting God could resurrect Isaac V. Two responses in suffering that shape the way we suffer:
A. Worship God B. Accuse God
SESSION 2 I. Preparing grace: Romans 8:18–25 A. God wants us to be prepared for the life he has chosen for us between the already of our
conversion and the not yet of our homegoing. B. What the Apostle Paul assumes suffering is:
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1. Universal 2. Not God punishing you for your sin
3. Not God lacking power 4. Not God ignoring you C. This world no longer functions the way God intended.
D. The reason we groan is because the world itself is groaning. E. Unrealistic expectations lead to being unprepared for suffering. F. We need to have a good, clear theology of suffering so that when it comes: 1. You don’t fall into wrong thinking. 2. You don’t preach to yourself a false gospel. II. Five reasons Christians suffer: A. Because we live in a broken, groaning world (Romans 8). B. For our spiritual growth (1 Peter 1). 1. Ore is heated and liquified to become pure and useful. 2. Because God loves you, he uses the heat of suffering to refine you. 3. “God will take you where you haven’t intended to go, in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own.” C. To become God’s messengers of comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3–9). 1. “God makes his invisible grace visible by sending people of grace to give grace to people who need grace.” D. For the sake of the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:7–10).
1. Jars of clay are weak, delicate, easily shattered. 2. Our limits are a divine intention, not a mistake.
3. God uses our “cracks” (weaknesses and limits) to reveal his glory. 4. Your weakness doesn’t contradict the gospel. It preaches the gospel! E. Because of our faith (1 Peter 4). III. How God Meets Us in Our Suffering: A. Preparing grace: 1. The Bible is clear about suffering so that you would be prepared for it. 2. God is sovereign, we are not, so we do not know the future. 3. Rest is found in entrusting yourself to the God who holds the future. 4. Don’t waste your time trying to figure out the future. a. Our limits are God’s goodness for us. b. If we could see it all and know it all, we would be crushed. 5. Your suffering is never meaningless.
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SESSION 3 I. Preparing grace (Romans 8:18–25) II. Intervening grace (vv. 26–39): A. When you do not know what to pray for (vv. 26–27).
1. God doesn’t judge our weaknesses, he meets us in them. 2. The indwelling Spirit carries our groanings to the Father, so groan! 3. Don’t fail to pray because you don’t have the “right” things to say. 4. “God help me” is a theologically strong prayer. B. Because the Holy Spirit is with you, you are never alone. C. God said to Moses: I see, I hear, I remember, and I know. III. Unstoppable grace (vv. 28–30): A. Romans 8:28 improperly used sets people up for anger toward God. B. Verses 29–30 interpret verse 28; “good” equals redemption. C. Nothing, including suffering, can thwart the march of redemption in your life. D. Jesus must reign until every enemy is under his feet (1 Corinthians 15). E. The best thing in your life is being redeemed! IV. Providing grace (vv. 31–32): A. God knows what you need and will provide what you need. B. Jesus is your guarantee. C. Sometimes the suffering is the provision. 1. Scripture is filled with weak people. 2. “We are a collection of weaknesses held together by cords of grace.” 3. “Your weakness is not in the way of God’s grace, your delusions of strength are.” 4. Suffering releases from the need to be strong, wise, and self-righteous. 5. God is rescuing us from ourselves; one of his tools is suffering. V. Inseparable grace (vv. 33–39): A. Suffering brings the assault of condemning voices. B. The truth: God’s love isn’t earned by righteousness and can’t be lost in suffering. C. Two cries in the heart of every human being: 1. “Will somebody love me?” 2. “Once they know me, will they still love me?” 3. The gospel’s answer is “Yes, and amen.” D. God doesn’t leave you alone in your suffering. He gives grace. E. We can stand in suffering because nothing can separate us from God’s love.
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Transcript SESSION 1
Well, on October 19th 2014, I was having some, what I thought were minor physical symptoms. I got a hold of my physician and he said, "Paul, you live in Center City, Philadelphia. Live close to Jefferson Hospital. Just walk over there to emergency and they'll check you out." I wasn't concerned. I thought they would affirm that I was in fabulous health and I'd go home. So, Sunday afternoon after church, Luella and I walked to the emergency room of Jefferson Hospital, we stopped at Starbucks on the way for worship. And we sat in the emergency room watching the Eagles play that Sunday. In those days, the best place to watch the Eagles was in an emergency room. They called me back into the examining room, and before very long, there were representatives from five different departments in the hospital in my examining room. I couldn't make sense out of what was going on. They let me know that I would not be out of the hospital anytime soon. When I got up to the room, all of a sudden, my body went into full body spasms. Unrelenting spasms for 36 hours. It felt like somebody was stabbing me in my abdomen, I literally screamed for 36 hours. Still disoriented, still not understanding all that was going on, and the next morning when things had calmed down, a physician came into my room and let me know that I was in the hospital because my kidneys were dying, that if I had waited another week, I would not be on the stage with you. I was in the hospital for 10 days and I thought that would be it, they had taken care of me, I had retained enough of my kidney that I could live. I had an operation that January, which was unexpected, and that was followed by six more surgeries. A surgery every four months for two years. If you have a surgery every four months, you don't recover before you have the next surgery. I grew weaker and weaker and weaker, to the point where I literally could not get out of a chair. Now, this was happening when God had given me this worldwide gospel platform. I would sit there in the chair pondering how could it be that God would give me this kind of influence for his kingdom and render me so useless? Now, I haven't told you my story so that you would have sympathy for me. But as an illustration of something that sometime somewhere everyone in this room will face, there are moments when life doesn't make sense. When you're trying to hold on to the presence and the promises and the grace of God, but it seems distant from your experience. And there's a reason for this, we live in two worlds, all of us do. One world is the world of God's love and God's grace. It's so incredibly beautiful, it almost defies human description. We're quite apart from anything we could have ever earned or deserved or achieved. God has chosen to pour his love on us. And he blesses us with his presence. He blesses us with his grace, he blesses us with his promises, he blesses us with his power. He literally comes to live inside of us. That's just such an astounding reality, it's so beautiful. And he gives us with his word, where would we be without his word? And he gives us with his church, where would we be without his church? It's so gorgeous, so wonderful to get up in the morning and say to yourself, I am redeemed, I'm a child of God. I've chosen to be an object of his favor. I have a destiny that's secure. I have been given everything I need for life and godliness. It's beautiful, it's beautiful, it's beautiful. But you don't just live in that world. You live in a world of pain and loss and betrayal. Some of the darkest experiences you could ever imagine. A car wreck that turns a loved one into a quadriplegic. A sudden death, the walking away of a dear family member. The encroachment on your heart and mind of depression that you don't seem to be able to fight. Fear that grips you so much that it becomes a physical reality. You shake and you gasp for breath. The unwanted, the unexpected, the hard and the difficult enters your door. Sometimes God seems distant. Sometimes you wonder, where are his promises? Sometimes you think, is he hearing my prayer? Two worlds. And there are moments when it seems almost impossible to hold those two worlds together. And what's important about facing that, facing that you don't just live in this world of glorious
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grace, but you live in this world of pain and loss, the dark realities of every human being's life. I'm going to say this again to you, but I need you to hear what I'm saying. That world of pain and loss, you haven't been given a ticket out of, just because you're a believer. And what's important about facing that is, when life doesn't make sense, oh, please hear what I'm about to say to you. When life doesn't make sense, you'll always preach to yourself some kind of gospel. You'll preach yourself the true gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of God's love and his presence and his willingness to unleash his power for your disposal. You will preach the true gospel to yourself or you will preach some kind of false gospel. Misshapen, distorted gospel, that makes you even willing to bring God into the court of your judgment and question his goodness and his faithfulness and love. Don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. I say this a lot. There's a preacher that you listen to more than any preacher who will ever be on the stage and that preacher is you. Everybody in this room is a philosopher, everybody in this room is a theologian, everybody in this room is an archeologist and you'll dig through the mound of your existence to make sense out of your life. And the reason I'm excited about our conversation this morning... I guess it's not a conversation, I'm the only one talking. Luella says that to me a lot. Paul, you talked, I didn't. But I'm supposed to do it here. The reason I'm excited about this conversation is, there's another thing I want you to get early, suffering is never neutral. Suffering is never a neutral experience. You always bring something to your suffering, and what you bring to your suffering, shapes the way you suffer. I'm about to hurt your feelings. But for most of us, we don't just suffer the thing that we suffer, we suffer the way that we suffer the thing that we suffer. I'm going to say that again. For most of us, you don't just suffer the thing that you're suffering. You also suffer the way that you're suffering the thing that you're suffering. We have a huge ability to trouble our own trouble. And the things we say to ourselves about ourselves, about life, about God, in these moments of suffering, deepen the burden, deepen the despondency, deepen the fear, deepen the discouragement, because what we're preaching to us is something less than what the Bible actually says is true. It's so easy to fall into those patterns. No one's more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you more than you do. People always laugh when I say that, but it's actually quite true. You're in a constant conversation with yourself. And I would advise you when you're in that conversation with yourself, don't move your lips, and surely don't take, trade places. They'll put you away. But you never stop talking to you. I don't know if you're aware of that. You're always talking to yourself, you're always in a conversation with yourself, you're always counseling yourself, you're always preaching to yourself, you're always analyzing to yourself. You do it constantly. Now, that's God's goodness to you. That ability to think, the ability to analyze, the ability to interpret, is all things that God has given us, so we can know him, we can know his revelation, we can think our way through the beauty of his truth. But it's got a dark side to it, because you just don't stop. You don't leave your life alone, you're always picking it up again, you're always picking through it, you're always trying to make sense out of it. And sometimes your dear pastors have a hard time breaking through the massive amount of conversation you've had in between the two moments where he's had you, because between Sunday and Sunday, you'll never stop talking. You just never quit. And you're not even silent when the poor guy is talking, because your mind is thinking. I mean, if you haven't argued with your pastor, while he's preaching, you're dead. It's never neutral. And so, you are shaping your suffering in some way. It's inescapably true. Now, I want to share with you one more story. No, it's not a Paul Tripp story this time. This is an Abraham story. This is from Genesis 22. And if you're keeping notes and you want to look back at this passage, it's verses one through eight. You know the Abraham story. This dear man had staked his entire life on one single promise of God. You remember that? It's a promise that God would give him a son and through that son, there would be a great nation and through that nation, all of the nations of earth would be blessed. Embedded in that you know is a promise of Jesus, because the seed of Abraham is Jesus. And those who are in Christ are the inheritors of all the promises to Abraham. That's us.
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Now, Abraham and dear Sarah waited and waited and waited and waited and waited and waited not 10 years, not 15 years, not 30 years, not 40 years, 75 years. This woman is way beyond childbearing age. It's one place where the Bible gets a little bit gynecological. Sorry, it's true. And telling us that her womb was dead. Not a very nice thing to say, but it was true. But the Son came, the miracle of God's faithful provision. God keeps his promises. You just think that's the end of the story. Praise God, this is a beautiful story, son came, nation's going to grow, Jesus will come out of that. Close your Bible, we don't need anything more. But that's not what happened. God comes to this dear man who has waited until he was an old man to finally have this son, and he says, I want you to sacrifice him. It seems like a bad divine joke. How dare you? How dare you put me through generation after generation, decade after decade of waiting, I finally get this promise and you're going to take him from me? Abraham says to Isaac, we're going to go out and make a sacrifice. And so, they head out. And at some point, Isaac, he knows the sacrifice drill. He says, "Dad, where's the animal for sacrifice?" Now, I think I probably would've said, shut up and keep walking. But Abraham said something with total calmness of heart, "The Lord will provide, the Lord will provide." And if you pay attention to the original language, the Hebrew that is written there, the word that is used for Abraham, building that altar is, pictures a man who is laying those stones neatly in order. He's not doing this, I can't believe you've asked me to sacrifice my son after all these years. It's a picture of a man whose heart is utterly at rest. Hebrews tells us that he thought that God was probably going to resurrect Isaac. Know what that tells you? Abraham didn't have a clue. He had no clue of what was happening. He wasn't at rest because he figured out what God was going to do, because Hebrews reinforces to us, he didn't have any idea what God was going to do, but he was absolutely convinced that he wasn't alone and that God would provide, in a moment where life seemed to make no sense at all. When life makes no sense, you rise as God's worshiper or you rise as his accuser. There's very little space in between. When life doesn't make sense, you rise as a worshiper of God or you rise as an accuser of God. You will always respond in some way, because these experiences are never ever neutral. I had to face the fact, that in the pure sense of the word, I would never be completely healthy again in my life. I had to face the fact that it would have radical implications on the ministry that God had called me to do. And in those moments, whether in a subtle way or in a angry way, you either shake your fist at God and you say, how dare you? I followed you for this? Or you fall down and worship and say, even though I can't figure this out, even though this makes no sense to me whatsoever, I will believe you and I will worship you and I will believe that you will provide. I want to pastor you for a moment. Open your heart right now. Fire your inner lawyer. I can say that because I have an inner law firm. And when you face hardship, do you have Abraham's heart? Do you? How close are you in the push and pull of life to questioning God's promises? To questioning his presence? To questioning his power and his grace? Suffering is never neutral. You'll always bring something to your suffering and what you bring will shape the way you suffer. And what I want to do in our time together is unpack what the Bible says about suffering, because the Bible doesn't avoid this topic. You could argue that the blood and dirt of this fallen world splashes across every part of the Word of God. The Bible's shockingly honest about suffering. But that's not all. We're going to see that the Bible is gloriously hopeful about these experiences and the candor of scripture about suffering doesn't diminish the hope and the hope doesn't negate scripture's honesty. This is a book that is shockingly honest and gloriously hopeful at the same time. And because of that, we can talk about the subject without fear. Let's pray. Lord, thank you for that beautiful combination in your word of shocking, raw, clear honesty about our experience. But thank you that you don't leave us there. You give us wonderful, specific, applicable reasons for hope. Thank you. Open our hearts. We pray this morning, in Jesus' name, amen. God bless.
Transcript: Session 1
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SESSION 2 Well, I want to take you to a passage in the New Testament that is a treatise on suffering. And not just the experience of suffering, but how God meets us in our suffering. It's Romans 8. And I want to read for you verses 18 through 25 of Romans 8. That's the wrong passage up there. There you go. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Romans 8:18–25 is in the Bible because God loves us, and he does not want us to live with unrealistic expectations. For the rest of the day, we're going to talk about God's grace. In Romans 18:25, we have his preparing grace, preparing grace. God wants us to be prepared for the life that he has chosen for us between the already of our conversion and the not yet of our home going. And if you notice the beginning of the passage, Paul assumes the universality of suffering. Let me say that again. He assumes the universality of suffering. If you're not suffering now, you will someday. And if you're not suffering now, you're near someone who is. Suffering is a universal human experience. Now, that's very, very important. That means your suffering is not an indication that God is punishing you for your sin. Suffering is not God's punishment of you because the gospel says that Jesus on the cross took every aspect of your punishment. You stand before your Lord debt-free. And so suffering is not his punishment. Suffering is not God lacking power. Suffering is not God ignoring you. Suffering is universal because of the world that we live in. God has chosen between the already of your conversion, the not yet of your home going to keep you in a world that is dramatically broken, dysfunctional. In case you haven't realized it, this world doesn't now function the way God originally intended. Let me say that again. This world no longer functions the way God originally intended. And you have some provocative descriptions of the world that we live in in this passage. It says it's been subjected to futility. Think about that. There is no futility in the garden. We face futility all the time. You've said to yourself, what difference does it make? I do and I do and I do and I still get this stuff. You've been frustrated. Of course, you have. Why isn't marriage endlessly beautiful? You look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. Why does that person that I married whose voice I used to hear and my heart would lift, why does that person now have a deep abiding ability to irritate me? Why do I have to get sick? Why do I face painful experiences? It's because of your address. It says this world is groaning as if in pains of childbirth, that acute pain. There are moments when it's not just frustrating. There are acute moments of pain where you cry out, where you weep. And the reason we groan is because the world itself is groaning. Do you know what this passage says? It's not just us waiting for redemption. The created world is waiting for redemption because it's breaking under its bondage. Right now creation is crying out for release, that the creator would finally enter in and finally create a new heavens and a new earth. Creation groans for release. The creation that is your present address. Another phrase, in bondage to corruption. I actually think a better translation there is bondage to decay. That's what it's talking about. You know the shocking reality of life is right now, that everything that is alive is in
Transcript: Session 2
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the process of dying? Not a happy thought is it? If you're in one of your glorious high moments as a husband now buying flowers for your wife, it may be that you're trying to pay her off for being a jerk, but let's say you're not doing that. Let's just say you love her and you buy her flowers. You know what happens the minute you put those on the table? You just watch slow death. It's, "Honey, I brought you some death. I love you." This is our address and the Bible is quite specific and clear about the reasons we suffer. And it's so important for you to realize that God is honest about that so you wouldn't mistake who he is and you wouldn't mistake your experience. You'd be prepared for the things that everybody faces in this world that we live in. So many people are unprepared for suffering because they've been living with unbiblical, unrealistic expectations. Listen, you know this with your children, unrealistic expectations always lead to what? Somebody said it. Disappointment, because your disappointment is directly related to whatever expectations you were carrying. We need to have a good clear theology of suffering. So that when it comes, you don't fall into all of that wrong thinking and preach yourself a false gospel. That's why the verses that I read are so important. This is God preparing you, letting you know the world that you live in. Now, I want to be in this time we have even more specific than that. There are in the New Testament five clear reasons that God gives us why Christians suffer, and I'm going to give these to you. The first one is here in Romans 8. We suffer because we live in a broken groaning world. Universal. We suffer because we live in a broken groaning world. But there's a second reason that we suffer. We suffer for the purpose of our spiritual growth. I love the example that's given in 1 Peter 4. Actually it should be 1 Peter 1, but I don't know why that's up there. In 1 Peter 1, Peter used the example of metallurgy. You mine a metal and it's in an ore state. Now, ore is not very attractive and not very usable, so the metallurgist has to apply white-hot heat to liquefy that metal so it reaches its highest state of beauty and its highest state of usability. Now listen to me. When you come to Christ, you're an orific Christian. You're just like ore. Yes, you're in the kingdom, but you are a bit of a mess. And it would be unuseful and unloving for God to leave you in that ore state. So because he loves you, he will boil you. God will take you where you haven't intended to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own. God will take you where you haven't planned or intended to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own. You know what the Bible calls that? Grace. We need to teach and preach and comfort one another with a theology of uncomfortable grace, uncomfortable grace, because often God's grace comes to us in uncomfortable forms. I am around people all the time that are saying, "Where's the grace of God," and they're getting it. But it's not the grace of release and it's not the grace of relief. It's the grace of refinement, just the kind of grace we all need. You have never ever heard somebody say, "I've had three of the most pleasurable and comfortable years of my life and I learned so much." But you hear story after story after story of people who went through hardship and say, "I am so thankful I learned so much." Third reason, this is 2 Corinthians 1:3–9. You will suffer so that you can be one of God's messengers of comfort to every other sufferer. God says he meets us with his comfort in our time of suffering so we can take that same comfort to other sufferers. Isn't that beautiful? Even your suffering is not about you, it belongs to your Lord. And he wants to use your suffering so you can bring that comfort that that person needs. You know what the model is? God makes his invisible grace visible by sending people of grace to give grace to people who need grace. Let me say that again. God makes his invisible grace visible by sending people of grace to give grace to people who need grace. I could say it this way. God makes his invisible comfort visible by sending people of comfort to give comfort to people who need comfort. Fourth reason, you will suffer for the sake of the glory of God. See, life is not about our glory, the glory of my
Transcript: Session 2
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success and the glory of my appreciation, approval and the glory of my possessions and whatever you would fill in there. I love this passage. This is 2 Corinthians 4 beginning with verse seven. This passage has been a huge and faithful friend to me. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. Let me stop there. Treasure in jars of clay, guess who the jars of clay are? That's us. In case you hadn't figured that out, that's not a compliment, because a clay jar is weak and delicate. You drop it, it's going to shatter. It's a picture of weakness. We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the all surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. Your weakness, your limits of strength, wisdom, righteousness is not an accident. It's not a divine mistake. It's a divine intention so that you would not mistakenly think it's all about you. You could argue that every night the fact that you have to go to sleep is a definite proof that you're not God. Because the Psalm says he never slumbers nor sleeps. Your weakness doesn't get in the way of the gospel. Your weakness doesn't contradict the gospel. Your weakness preaches the gospel. We need as a church to quit promoting big personality, self-sufficient people. We have been cursed with so many of those leaders, and it never goes anywhere good. I want to be preached to by a weak man. Not weak in faith, but who is not promoting himself but promoting his God. That's what this passage is about. If you're leading a small group, if you're preaching or teaching, be transparent. Because if you're not, people instead of wanting to know your God, they'll want to be you. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. Persecuted, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. Always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, now watch this, so that, so that means a purpose, for this purpose that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our bodies. Weakness is not in the way of God's plan. It is the plan so that we would be living demonstrations of the presence and glory of God. It's actually saying we're just a bunch of crackpots. That's exactly what it's saying. And through those cracks, guess what's seen? The all-surpassing power of God himself. Yes, Paul Tripp called you a crackpot, but God designed it that way so people would look at you and see the Redeemer. The last reason you will suffer is because of your faith. In 1 Peter 4, Peter says, as a good pastor, why are you surprised as if something strange was happening to you? Don't you know you're an alien and an exile? You're living for a different kingdom than the people around you. And because of that, you're going to be misunderstood. You're going to be misinterpreted, and you're going to be mistreated. Listen, we are in a generation we better understand what's coming, where you may be a believer and you don't get into university because you won't endorse things that that university endorses. You won't get a promotion at your job. You'll have neighbors that will turn their back on you. You may even have loved ones who walk away from you because of your faith, because of the moral stands that God calls you to. You see, the Bible is very specific and very clear about suffering. God doesn't hide it. He's not embarrassed to talk about it. He doesn't talk about it in whisper tones. It's everywhere. Why? So that we would be prepared. It's the grace of preparation. Because if you're unprepared, you will bring all the wrong things to your suffering. And what often is sacrificed in a person's suffering, you ready for this, is their faith. And they begin to say, "I don't know if I can read my Bible, and I don't even know if I can go to church, and I surely can't be with my small group." And it's just a beginning to wander away. God who loves you has given you his word so that you will be prepared. Now, God's sovereign and we're not, and that means I don't know what's around the corner. I don't know. A day can change, a life can change in just one phone call, one visit to the doctor, one incident with another person, and it all changes. And God is not going to unfold his secret will to you. In case you hadn't put this together, his secret will is called his secret will because it's secret. I want to be honest about my experience. If I had known what I was going to face that day and the change in my life, I would've lost my mind. It was love that God didn't tell me what was happening. So you don't know and you can't figure out the future.
Transcript: Session 2
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