held the book in my hands. Now, tears streaming down my face. I called Luella and I said, "Luella, I don't remember writing this book." I wasn't exaggerating. And the only time in all of my writing career, I sat there and I read my own book from cover to cover. God doesn't need you to be strong because he's strong. God doesn't call you to do things because you're able, but because he's able. Look at the characters in the Scripture, it's just a cast of weak people. You know what we are? Know what we actually are right here, right now, today? We're a collection of weaknesses held together by cords of grace. That's who we are. And you're not weak in ways that the person is next to you, but you're weak in ways. And so, what suffering does is it releases you from your need to be strong, releases you from your need to be wise. It releases you from your need to be the high-road righteous person. It's impossible to live with a person who thinks they're strong all the time. It's impossible to live with a person who thinks they're wise all the time. It just is. It's impossible to live with a person who assumes their righteousness and is more concerned about your sin than they are of their own. Suffering can release you from all of that. It's a beautiful freedom. Step into the freedom of suffering. And know the release from the bondage that you have to you. Listen, God's at work, not just rescuing me from the evil of the external world. God's at work rescuing Paul Tripp from Paul Tripp. And one of his main tools is suffering. I want to go back to what I said. I'm so ready to say, I don't like to suffer, but to get what God has given me through this hard experience, I would gladly go through this again. Well, the final several verses are the crescendo, preparing grace, intervening grace, unstoppable grace, providing grace. Here's the final thing, inseparable grace. The passage even mentions it, when you're going through suffering, you are assaulted by condemning voices. Let me say it again. When you go through suffering, you're assaulted by condemning voices. Where's your God now? Why you? Why now? Why here? Look at your neighbor. Maybe God loves them more than He loves you. Why are you suffering and they look like they're just being blessed all over the place? And what Paul ends with is saying this, "Don't you understand that the love you are experiencing, you did not earn by your righteousness and you won't lose because you're suffering." There are two cries in the heart of every human being, not just religious people, every human being. The first one is, will somebody love me? Every human being is in search of love. But the second cry is even more terrifying, once they know me, will they still love me? And the answer of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is yes and yes. Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Listen, the most significant question is not, can I lose my salvation? There's a deeper, more profound question, will God stop loving me? We're used to, in a fallen world, love ending. It does, people walking away. And the answer of Paul is, nothing in heaven and earth can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. In suffering, all the dumb things you think, all the wrong things you say, all the anger you experience, all the doubts of faith you go through. None of that stuff can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. There's an old hymn that has a line in it that gets me up in the morning. It's this, "I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that he died for me." I don't stand before God and argue for my worthiness. I stand before God and bathe in his inseparable love because Jesus paid for that for me. No, God doesn't leave you alone in your suffering. He meets you with his preparing grace, his intervening grace, his unstoppable grace, his providing grace, and his inseparable grace. And so, in the midst of the hardest things in life, you can say, "I will stand and I will continue. Not because I bring anything to the experience, but because God is with me, and nothing can separate me from his love." Let's pray. Lord, there are few passages that we could go to when we're broken down that are more deeply profoundly encouraging than this passage. We could say right now that we love You, but we want to say that the deepest greatest joy of our lives is that we're loved by You. You are a rock and fortress. You are a son and shield. You are life and health and hope and peace and reconciliation, and redemption. Thank you that You have placed your love on us. Love is there even in the darkness, even in the valley. Thank you. We pray all these things in the sweet and strong name of Jesus. Amen. God bless.
Transcript: Session 3
GOSPEL HOPE
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