As we begin this message today please allow me to remind you of a text I have quoted to you on a number of occasions in the past. Isa. ch.66v2b.

‘To this man will I look!’ What man is God speaking to Isaiah about, why the man who is poor! And the word means begging poor. He recognizes like the beggar who sat at the gate of the temple beautiful in Acts 3 that he is totally dependent on all those who pass by to provide his every need.

So the man to whom the Lord will look for service is the man who recognizes his absolute poverty apart from God. He depends upon God completely for every need he has and trusts God completely for every step he must take.

He is "tocas" poor, begging poor, totally dependent on his God!

"And of a contrite spirit" God is saying, the man or woman I can use is to be a man or woman with an attitude of contrition. One who daily will lay himself prostrate in heart before me in humility of spirit.

The problem with many of us today is, we are in no mood to bow so low, and display a heart of humility and contrition. We feel we must contribute our own efforts to help God out. All the while our God is saying no! no! the man I need is a man who is begging poor and brutally contrite!

But there is a third attitude God is looking for in those who will serve Him with profit. "and trembles at my word" it’s the word "chared" (khaw-rade) it means fearful, (a holy fear) "reverential". Our God says, the man I use will be a man who has a deep respect and reverence for my Word.

The man I will use, says our Holy God is, a man who is begging poor, brutally contrite and believes my Word!

The hymn writer said it well.

God is looking for people who walk with him so that he may use them as vessels unto honour in His Holy Work.

And immediately we say in our hearts, well, how on earth can we be brought to such an attitude of heart?

Well, let me remind you that God uses four methods to bring his people to such an attitude of heart, that is, if I may use another term, a heart attitude of maturity and completeness.

1. God uses preaching to mature and complete his people! Eph.4v11&12.

"And he gave some apostles; and some, prophets; and some pastor-teachers for the perfecting (or maturing and completing) of the saints for the work of their ministry and the edifying of the body."

There is a great emphasis upon less preaching today. Anything else will do just as long as we have less preaching. Well please listen carefully to this from Dr. John MacArthur in Rediscovering Expository Preaching chapter 5, opening comment.

"Behind the content of his message is the character of the expositor. He must be set apart from mundane matters, lifted above worldly aims and ambitions, and devoted singularly to God’s service. In 1 Tim.6v11-14, Paul lists four characteristics of such a man of God: he is marked by what he flees from, follows after, fights for, and is faithful to." (End Quote)

You see dear people, the man of God is called primarily to ‘Preach The Word.’ If he is going to a lost world Paul reminds us in Rom. 10v14-15 he must preach The Word of the Gospel of Peace. If he is going to preach to the saints, again Paul reminds us 2 Tim. 4v2 he must preach the Word, why?

2 Tim.3v16-17.

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

 

2. God uses prayer to mature and complete his saints! Col.4v12.

"Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, greeteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect (mature, complete) in all the will of God."

I just love that phrase, don’t you? Epaphras, who is one of you! Who is this he is talking about who labours fervently in prayer for us, in order that we might be mature and complete? Why, it’s Epaphras, and you know what, he is just one of you. He’s just an ordinary brother in the Lord from the assembly who has you on his heart continually in prayer that you grow up in the Lord.

He labours fervently in prayer for you to come to maturity and completeness!

Would that we had more like him, because you see, through prayer we can be brought to maturity and completeness. And my word, if ever there was a time we needed people who were growing in maturity and completeness it’s today.

3. God uses trial to mature and complete his saints! James 1v2-4.

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing this, that the testing of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, lacking nothing." (mature,complete)

Now, wait a minute James, you’ve surely got that wrong! Count it all joy when falling into trial, surely you mean to be joyful when getting out of trial? No, when getting into, because trial can bring you to maturity and completeness.

You see when growth stops, decay begins.

4. God uses suffering to mature and complete his saints! 1 Peter 5v10.

You might well be thinking in your heart, oh, Pastor that’s incredible, surely God would not allow any of his people to go through suffering in order to

mature and complete them! Well, that’s the teaching of The Word!

Remember the example we have of Job? God allowed Satan to do his worst in Job’s life and on his body, why? Because through this dreadful experience of suffering, Job would learn some very powerful and poignant lessons. So much so, when we come to the final chapter of the book of Job, we discover in v10 that Job was released from his captivity. What does that mean?

Well, it simply means even though in the first chapter we discover Job was a good man, a gracious man, a gifted man, a generous man, and even a godly man there was something in the life of this dear man of God that God needed to deal with and this period of suffering was the way to do it. Job was in bondage to something or other and was in need of being released and set free to enjoy even more of the blessing of God than before.

And that, dear people, is the amazing lesson Paul is being taught.

How can I come to the kind of attitude of heart Isaiah is talking about? Well, one of the ways is through suffering, and that’s the way I want to single out today.

1. SUFFERING IS USED TO PROCURE HUMILITY! V7.

You see, a number of very wonderful and amazing things had happened in the life and times of the Apostle Paul, and because, like the rest of us, he is human, those happenings could easily make him proud. And what good is a proud man to God? None at all!

• There was that wonderful experience on the Damascus road at his salvation Acts Ch. 9.

• There were those times of trouble and suffering in 2 Cor. 11v23-28 through which he was preserved.

• There was three years in the backside of the Arabian Desert alone with the Lord when as Dr. Vance Havner said, he went out with the Prophets in his nap-sack and came back with the Epistles on his heart.

• Then there was this very time we have been reading about in 2 Cor. 12 when he was transported by the Holy Spirit into the third heaven.

Dear folks, don’t let the gifts you have, the goods you have, the goodness you have, the experiences you have make you proud! Without humility we are of no value to the Lord and his service.

Listen to the Apostle Paul as he writes to the Church at Rome. Ch.12v3.

So Paul is saying in 2 Cor. 12 "Lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given unto me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me."

"There was given unto me" he says, it’s a gift, and it’s a gift from God!

Oh, I know it’s the messenger of Satan but God has allowed this in my life as a gift. You say, what! What are you saying Pastor? This is a messenger from Satan to buffet him, how can you say it’s a gift from God?

Well Paul is saying it’s a gift from God to keep some humility in his life, lest he becomes over exalted, or exalted above measure! His words.

The unknown penman to the Hebrews puts it like this! Heb.12v5.

Beloved, do not despise the gift of suffering God brings into your life, whatever He is doing with you and with me, be sure of this, it needs doing however distasteful it may appear to us.

Not only does Paul call this a gift, another interesting thing about it is, he says it’s a thorn. In the original text it means a stake! It’s the kind of stake you would place in a pit prepared to trap a wild animal. The idea for that wild animal is to walk onto the trap and be impaled on these very sharp stakes rendering the animal totally harmless.

Paul says, that’s the kind of stake that has been rammed through my otherwise proud flesh. Thinking about all the Lord had been pleased to allow in his life, he is saying, lest I would become proud he has staked my flesh through rendering it totally harmless.

Thirdly he says, not only is this a gift, not only is this a powerful stake but this is the messenger of Satan to buffet me. And once again this is so very interesting. The word messenger here is the word, in the original, for angel.

It is used 188 times in the New Testament. 187 times it is used as a human messenger or as an angelic messenger.

Would it be used in a different sense here? I think not! So if I am correct in my understanding of this text, this could well be someone or body of people in the assembly under the influence of Satan out to ruin Paul’s ministry. But the wonder is, while some may mean to ruin Paul’s ministry God is going to use it to ripen Paul’s ministry.

Beloved, when suffering comes your way, don’t be too quick to reject it.

Receive it in the Saviour’s name. You see, God uses broken things and broken people. Broken soil and broken clouds to produce grain, broken grain to produce bread, broken bread to feed our bodies.

God wants our stubbornness broken into humble obedience, then when the time is right he will be able to use us in his harvest gathering in.

B. SUFFERING IS USED TO PRODUCE PRAYER! V8.

The Kenneth Wuest translation in v 8 reads "Concerning this three times I begged the Lord that he would depart from me" Who is the "he" in the text? The Lord? I think not. He is talking about the "he" sent to buffet!

The point really is, this thing or person, depending on your interpretation of the passage, drives Paul to constant prayer. Like Daniel, he comes three times to the Lord. Whether daily or not I don’t know but he is certainly driven to the Lord in deadly earnest prayer. He means business with God!

This is not simply a quick prayer on the move as we leave home in the morning. This is not a quick fix on the way to face some trouble that is brewing. This is prayer with a deadly earnest heart behind it.

One way or another he was being pulverized, and folks, that’s not pleasant in any man’s language, that’s hard to take when all you want to do is glorify the Lord in your ministry.

Paul’s prayer was that this thorn, stake, would be removed! And I tell you what, the answer is most interesting indeed. No! No! No! three times he prayed earnestly and three times God said, No Paul, No Paul, No.

Now, this of course, is not the first time God has answered with a no. And dear friends if there is anything that bewilders us in this Christian life it’s those prayers answered with a very direct no.

• Do you recall Abraham praying, "O God, that Ishmael may live before thee." What Abraham meant was, "let Ishmael be the inheritor of the promises" But God said, "No Abraham, in Isaac shall thy seed be blessed"

As Abraham looks today from his vantagepoint of heaven, don’t you think he is glad God said no to his prayer?

• Moses prayed, "O God, let me go into the land" and God said, "don’t talk to me about that anymore; you cannot go in," God said no. How do you think Moses views that answer of no today from his vantage point in heaven as he sees the whole picture? Don’t you think he’s glad God said no in his wonderful wisdom.

• Do you remember David’s prayer for the child of Bath-Sheba? "Heal the child, and let him live." But God said, No; I won’t heal him; I am going to take him home," And at last David bowed his head and said, "He cannot come to me but I will go to him," And David’s heart was drawn toward Heaven in a way it would never have been otherwise. How thankful David must be today that God said no to his prayer, especially in the light of the fact that he lost some of his own sons to the down-fall of evil.

• Elijah went out into the wilderness when an angry woman frightened him. This man who stood before King Ahab and hundreds of prophets and spoke up for God ran away and lay down under a juniper tree when Jezebel was after him.He flings himself before God and prays, "I am no better than my fathers" ‘did you really think you were Elijah?’ He found out he was not! "Let me die" Do you think in heaven today he’s glad God said no Elijah, I think so, because Elijah is the only man between the flood and the cross who went home to heaven without dying.

And Paul prayed, "remove the thorn" No Paul, No Paul, No! I won’t remove it but I will do something that’s better than removing the thorn!

Again listen to Kenneth Wuest’s translation of v9.

You see Paul has been through the test of the marvelous. Having risen to the third heaven experience, he might well have been sustained by the wonderful exaltation of that happening but God brings Paul down to the mysterious depths of the thorn, which in turn drives him to God in desperation to meet him in his extremities. But then to have to live in the monotonous day to day battering he would receive from the messenger of Satan and know that God had barred his way from ever getting out of it, Ah, that’s the test!

And listen, listen, it’s into that situation God comes with "My grace is enough" Its enough to keep you when you are on a high in the marvelous. It’s enough to keep you when you are mystified by what’s happening. It’s enough to keep you in the day to day pounding this thorn is going to cause.

What has God to do in you and me to make us vessels unto honour, to make us servants for his glory? Weaken us to the point we rely only upon his strength. You say pastor, that sounds painful, yes it does, but dear folk, it’s when we embrace the pain that this is the beginning of God’s working in and through us.

He uses suffering to make us powerful.

Holy has the same root as wholly, it means complete. A man is not complete in spiritual stature if all his mind, heart, soul, and strength are not given to God. R. J. Stewart.

A holy life is a voice; it speaks when the tongue is silent and is either a constant attraction or a perpetual reproof. Archbishop Robert Leighton.