“T- I – P”- TROUBLES
A CHRISTIAN’S VIEW OF TROUBLES THROUGH THE LENS OF THE WORD OF GOD.
For the follower of Christ troubles are
1. – TEMPORAL- (2 Cor 4:17)
2. – INEVITABLE- (James 1:2)
3. – PROFITABLE- (John 15:8,
Romans 5:3-4)
Let’s look at “T.I.P” a little more and consider that TROUBLES ARE…
1.-.TEMPORAL
– 2 Cor 4:17-“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”; Troubles are temporal in light of ETERNITY.
1 Peter 5:10-“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. “A Little While” suggests a time limit. There is a boundary to them. God determines the boundary as He did with Joseph, Meshach, and Shadrach. Abednego, as He did with David, Stephen, Those in Hebrews 11, John on the isle of Patmos.
Sometimes He delivers from the trial other times He sustains us in the trial but make no mistake there is a time limit on your trials… They are “momentary troubles… for a little while “they are temporal considering eternity!
Hebrews 9:27- “And just as it is destined for people to die once,..“.
TEMPORAL is Described in these verses as “Momentary troubles, for a little while, destined to die once.” There is an end to them!
2.- INEVITABLE– we live in a fallen world…
Job 5:7 – “People are born for TROUBLE as readily as sparks fly up from a fire.”
John 16:33 -“In this world you WILL have TROUBLE.”
James 1:2 – “Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, WHEN you encounter various trials”
1 Peter 1:6-7- ” So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though YOU MUST ENDURE many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”-{1 Peter 1:6-7}
3- PURPOSEFUL and –
John 15:1-2– PRUNING so as to bear much spiritual fruit to what end? Ultimately to GLORIFY God!
What type of “Fruit”…
A.- GLORIFYING GOD… ultimately it is Christlikeness.
He prunes with a three fold purpose Verse 8-“…My Father is GLORIFIED by this, that you bear MUCH FRUIT, and so prove to be My disciples.”
“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit: The purpose of fruit bearing is to bring glory to God, not to the disciple. A branch that bears much fruit brings honor to one who cares for the vine, and a disciple who bears much fruit in a spiritual sense brings honor to God.
- “Branches and clusters have no self-seeking, no aim outside the Vine and the Husbandman’s glory: all other aims are cast out as unworthy.” (Trench)
- By this My Father is glorified: “Or, honoured. It is the honour of the husbandman to have good, strong, vigorous vines, plentifully laden with fruit: so it is the honour of God to have strong, vigorous, holy children, entirely freed from sin, and perfectly filled with his love.” (Clarke)
iii. Real fruitfulness is only determined over an extended period of time. “Genuine conversion is not measured by the hasty decision but by long-range fruitfulness.” (Erdman) This principle is displayed in the Parable of the Soils (Matthew 13).:{Enduring Word- preceptaustin}
“ Thus the two actions are really one and the same: bearing fruit and being Jesus’ disciple are not two different actions, but a single action. The first is the outward sign or proof of the second—in bearing fruit the disciples show themselves to be disciples indeed (cf. 15:5). As far as the textual reading is concerned, it appears preferable to accept the aorist subjunctive reading (gevnhsqe).”
You cannot glorify God by bearing fruit if you are not His disciple- Impossible!
John Warr, an 18th-century apprentice shoemaker, was determined to be a faithful witness for Christ. Another apprentice was hired, and John repeatedly talked to him about spiritual things. That new worker, however, didn’t want to be bothered. Then one day he was caught exchanging a counterfeit shilling for a good one. In his guilty humiliation he asked John for help and prayer. Through the faithful witness of John Warr, that man put his faith in Christ and developed into a committed disciple.
The young apprentice was William Carey, who later became a remarkably fruitful missionary to India. Carey’s life and ministry had a tremendous influence on the cause of worldwide gospel outreach in modern times.
Jesus said in John 15:8, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.” This could be discouraging to Christians who can’t preach, sing, teach, or go to the mission field. They might see themselves as stuck in a situation that makes fruitful service impossible.
If that’s how you feel, then take courage from the example of John Warr. His impact on a co-worker brought glory to God and untold blessing to multitudes of people around the world.” –{See 1 Peter 2:12, 3:15 could use these verses….
.” As we saw in our last study, the purpose for which God saved us is that we would bear much fruit. The point of planting a vineyard is not to grow pretty leaves, but to grow fruit. While God has given each of us different gifts, we are to use those gifts to bear fruit for His kingdom.
I’m not much of a gardener or botanist, but I can identify some types of trees. We were driving in Phoenix recently and I saw a tree loaded with round orange things and I concluded, “That’s an orange tree!” I’ve seen trees with round red things on them and I correctly concluded, “Those are apple trees!” You say, “Well, duh! Anyone can identify a tree by its fruit.” Yes. As I recall, Jesus said something like that (Matt. 7:20; Luke 6:44). It’s true, but it’s also kind of convicting! Someone should be able to look at your life and say, “Aha! That’s a Christian!” They should know by our fruit that we follow Jesus.
Since God saved us so that we would be fruitful for His purposes, it’s important to know what fruit is. Generally, fruit is Christlikeness produced in us as we rely on the Holy Spirit. Just as an orange tree bears oranges, not thistles, so a Christian produces Christlikeness. At the root of this is not just going to church or serving in the church or being a moral or religious person, but having Christ dwell in you through the new birth. If you haven’t trusted in Christ to save you from your sins, you can’t bear fruit in your life that glorifies Him.
I trust that you know: the chief end of man is that we glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Jesus says that we will glorify God when we bear much fruit. As others see what God produces in and through us as we live closely with the Lord Jesus, they will get a glimpse of what He is like. More specifically, when people see the fruit of the Holy Spirit, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control,” in us (Gal. 5:22-23), God will be glorified.
To bear fruit that glorifies God, it’s important to keep two things in mind:
First, check your motives. Why do you want to bear fruit? It’s easy to fall into the trap of serving the Lord so that others will say nice things to you and about you. If you feel hurt when people don’t give you enough praise, it probably indicates that you were not serving for God’s glory, but for your own glory. Or, if you want to build an impressive ministry so that others will say, “What a great man of God!” your motives are wrong, because you’re seeking your own glory, not God’s glory.
Second, check your source of power. If you’re serving the Lord in your own strength and just asking Him for a little help now and then, you’re not serving in His power. Serving in His power doesn’t mean that you don’t work hard, but rather that you work hard as you rely on God’s power. Paul put it (Col. 1:29), “For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.” If you feel burned out, chances are you were serving in your power, not in God’s power.
But there’s a benefit when you glorify God by bearing fruit: Jesus says (John 15:8b) that you “so prove to be My disciples.” J. C. Ryle applies it (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], p. 105), “Fruitfulness in Christian practice will not only bring glory to God, but will supply the best evidence to our own hearts that we are real disciples of Christ.” He means, when you see God work through you and you realize that the results are not because of your cleverness or hard work, but rather, because God worked through you, it assures your heart that you are a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
Thus, to grow closer to Christ, abide in Him and in His word, asking and receiving from Him through prayer. Live to glorify the Father by bearing much fruit. –{STEPHEN COLE}
“….Finally, we must note that here there are two things laid down about the good disciple. First, he enriches his own life; his contact makes him a fruitful branch. Second, he brings glory to God; the sight of his life turns men’s thoughts to the God who made him like that. God is glorified, when we bear much fruit and show ourselves to be disciples of Jesus. The greatest glory of the Christian life is that by our life and conduct we can bring glory to God.” – {BARCLAY}. MATT 5; …MEN MAY SEE YOUR GOOD WORKS AND GLORIFY YOUR FATHER IN HEAVEN,
B.- YOUR SPIRITUAL MATURITY
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it SO THAT it may bear more fruit.” He uses troubles as one means to “Prune” and develop us. Paul knew this in 2 Cor 1:9; 2 Cor 12:9…..
Roman’s 5:3-4;-“ And not only this, but we also celebrate in our tribulations, KNOWING that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;”
1 Peter 5:10- “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, WILL HIMSELF perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
C- OTHERS BENEFIT.
2 Cor 1:3-4- “Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”-{Amplified Bible}
Phil 1:12-14; -“Now I want you to know, believers, that what has happened to me [this imprisonment that was meant to stop me] has actually served to advance [the spread of] the good news [regarding salvation]. My imprisonment in [the cause of] Christ has become common knowledge throughout the whole praetorian (imperial) guard and to everyone else. Because of my chains [seeing that I am doing well and that God is accomplishing great things], most of the brothers have renewed confidence in the Lord, and have far more courage to speak the word of God [concerning salvation] without fear [of the consequences, seeing that God can work His good in all circumstances].”-{Amplified Bible}
1 Peter 2:12; “ Keep your behavior excellent among the [unsaved] Gentiles [conduct yourself honorably, with graciousness and integrity], so that for whatever reason they may slander you as evildoers, yet by observing your good deeds they may [instead come to] glorify God in the day of visitation [when He looks upon them with mercy].” –{Amplified Bible}
Eph 3:1-“For this reason [because I preach that you and believing Jews are joint heirs] I, Paul, am the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles—“{Amplified Bible}
4.- PROFITABLE–
James 1:2-5. – 4 commands. If obeyed are profitable ….” Rejoice…Knowing {understanding mind}… Let {Submissive will} …Ask…”
1 Peter 1:6-7 – “So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
Re-read the verses and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you
Using the letters “T-I-P.”To help remember for yourself and to EQUIP you to share with others when troubles of various types come … memorize the outline below so as to be able to quickly turn to remind yourself or help others. Perhaps write in your Bible so the Holy Spirit can remind and help you or help you to help OTHERS…
For the follower of Christ, troubles are
1. – TEMPORAL- (2 Cor 4:17)
2. – INEVITABLE- (James 1:2)
3. – PROFITABLE- (John 15:8,
Romans 5:3-4)
God bless,
Aidan
“T-I-P”