Our Serving, Suffering, Supplicating, Sympathetic Savior

How does Jesus respond to suffering?  Matthew 14 gives us some insight. 

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, “he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.” (14:13).  Jesus wanted some time to mourn alone.  Suffering well will include solitude.  Needing to be alone is often the best thing for a hurting heart.  But, Jesus did not get much time alone, the crowds were following him.  Upon seeing the crowd Jesus, “had compassion on them and healed their sick.” (14:14).  Jesus did not let his suffering lead him to bitterness but be sympathetic toward others in pain.  He not only took the time to heal the crowds, but to fed 5000 and set with them until they finished eating.  “And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.” (14:21) Suffering well will include service. Jesus was suffering, but He took the time to minister to others in need instead of focusing on His own needs.  Lastly, we see that Jesus did get His alone time, after He dismissed the crowd, he spent an estimated 9 hours in prayer, not only for the ministry he was about to do, prayer for his own suffering (Matthew 14:23-25). Suffering well involves supplication.

The good news is just not just that out Savior suffered, but that He suffers well and sympathizes with us in our suffering. 

Broken Sufficiency

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere." - 2 Cor. 2:14

God, in the gospel of Christ, has conquered us and broken us that we might "spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere."  God saves us that we might speak of Him to others.

We are "Christ's aroma to God," God's beloved ones in Christ, among those who are perishing and those who have life (2:15).  The fragrance doesn't change, the recipient does. "to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life." (2:16)  Some will see your witness and reject it out right, others will see your witness and be sanctified.  "Who is sufficient for these things?" Who is sufficient for the witness of Christ?  Only those who have been honestly broken by God to speak for God.  Be broken today.  In Christ, only a broken jar can release a pleasing aroma to the Lord.
For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. - 2 Cor. 2:17

Missionary Ann Judson on the Topic of Missions:

"I want the Baptists throughout the United States to feel, that Burmah must be converted through their instrumentality. They must do more than they have ever yet done. They must pray more, they must give more, and make greater efforts to prevent the Missionary flame from becoming extinct. Every Christian in the United States should feel as deeply impressed with the importance of making continual efforts for the salvation of the heathen, as though their conversion depended solely on himself. Every individual Christian should feel himself guilty if he has not done and does not continue to do all in his power for the spread of the gospel and the enlightening of the heathen world. But I need not write thus to you. You see, you feel the misery of the heathen world. Try to awaken Christians around you. Preach frequently on the subject of Missions. I have remarked it to be the case, when a minister feels much engaged for the heathen, his people generally partake of his spirit." (Letter to Francis Wayland, 22 January 1823)

"What is thy only comfort in life and death?"

"That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him."

-The Heidelberg Catechism Questions 1 and Answer

Great Encouragement!

Hebrews 7:25

"Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."

A Prayer For Good Friday

Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before thy cross I kneel and see the heinousness of my sin,
   my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse’,
   the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by
   the crown of thorns,
   the pierced hands and feet,
   the bruised body,
   the dying cries.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
   its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.
Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
   born in my birth,
   alive in my life,
   strong in my character,
   dominating my faculties,
   following me as a shadow,
   intermingling with my every thought,
   my chain that holds me captive in the
   empire of my soul.

Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light,
  the air supply breath,
   the earth bear my tread,
   its fruits nourish me,
   its creatures subserve my ends?

Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
   thy heart hastens to my rescue,
   thy love endured my curse,
   thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths
   of humiliation,
   bathed in thy blood,
   tender of conscience,
   triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation."

– “The Precious Blood,” Valley of Vision, 74-75.

Closing the Deal: An Unbiblical Component of Modern Evangelism

By Tony Miano

Last week I asked on Twitter for suggestions, for blog articles. Mike King, from Mount Vernon, WA, gave the following suggestion:

If you haven't already, a written follow-up to your Q&A at Jon Speed's church, about how to "close out" a Gospel conversation.

Sometimes people ask, "How many people have you led to Christ?" My answer: "All of them." When I share the gospel, I bring everyone with whom I speak to the foot of the cross, where I leave them in the hands of the sovereign Creator and Savior. Salvation is of the Lord. I am simply one of his ambassadors.

During the earlier years of my Christian life, from time to time I would share the gospel with people. I was more evangelistic than some, but nowhere near as evangelistic as I should have been. On rare occasions, a person would indicate a desire to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. So, I would do what I was taught to do: lead the person in a "sinner's prayer."

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