13 June 2004
U.S. Army Chaplain (MAJ) Ken Harris
CP Walker, Taegu South Korea
BIG IDEA: TO MOTIVATE THE HEARERS TO AFFIRM TO OTHERS THAT WHEN GOD SAYS NO, IT’S BECAUSE HE SEES THE BIG PICTURE OR HE HAS A BETTER PLAN.
REFERENCES: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10; Habakkuk 1:1-12 (… problems with UNASWERED PRAYERS); Romans 8:28 (All things work together …); Psalms 22:1 (My God My God …); 1 Peter 1:7; Proverbs 16:4 (God has made all things for himself even the wicked for the day of evil); Matthews 26:26-42 (… pass this cup from me, nevertheless …); Luke 22:39-44 (pass this cup from me, nevertheless …); Hebrews 11:39-40 (Saints commended, yet none of them received what was promised); James 4:1-6 (How we should pray); Hebrews 4:13 (He knows about everyone, everywhere; nothing can be hidden from him); Isaiah 55:8-9 (God ways and thoughts are higher than ours…);
I. ANNOUNCE THE PERICOPE: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 & JOB 13:15A
II. READ THE PERICOPE: 2 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 & JOB 13:15A
III. READ THE TEXT: 2 Corinthians 12:8-9b (For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness). & Job 13:15a (Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:…)
IV. PURPOSE: To motivate the hearers to TRUST GOD.
V. SERMONIC THEME: “God’s Answer Is No!”
INTRODUCTION:
( A great writer, Claudia Minden Weisz, once wrote a poem dubbed, “AND GOD SAID NO” in that poem Claudia says:
I asked God to take away my pride, and GOD said, No.
He said it was not for Him to take away, but for me to give up.
I asked God to make my handicapped child whole, and God said, No.
He said her spirit is whole, her body is only temporary.
I asked God to grant me patience, and God said, No.
He said that patience is a by-product of tribulation; it isn’t granted, it’s earned.
I asked God to give me happiness, and God said, No. He said He gives blessings; happiness is up to me.
I asked God to make my spirit grow, and God said, No He said I must grow on my own, but He will prune me to make me more fruitful.
I asked God if He loved me, and God said, YES!!! He gave His only Son who died for me, and I will be in heaven someday because I believe.
I asked God to help me love others as much as He loves me, and God said,
“Ah, finally, you have the idea).” End of quote.
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MOVE 1: Now, my brothers and my sisters … if you haven’t struggled with GOD’S ANSWER “NO” then you haven’t lived long OR PRAYED MUCH.
a. FOR YOU SEE … GOD HAS NO RESPECT OF PERSONS; AND I KNOW THAT I (myself) HAVE FREQUENTLY PRAYED FOR TROUBLE
MARRIAGES AND YET THEY FELL APART…
b. I HAVE PRAYED IN FAITH OVER SICK PEOPLE THAT I LOVED, AND SOME DIDN’T GET WELL.
c. WHEN MY MOTHER WAS ILL WITH LYMPHOMA CANCER … I
EARNESTLY PRAYED WITH ALL MY MIGHT; AND GOD STILL SAID NO. I WRESTLED OVER HER DEATH.
d. BECAUSE … I KNOW THAT I PRAYED FOR HER … BUT WHAT WENT WRONG … WHY DID MY MOTHER HAVE TO DIE?
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MOVE 2: Likewise …I submit to you this afternoon that … Many believers have a misunderstanding about … prayer. For you see …. Some people think prayer is kind of like God in Aladdin’s lamp. While others think … that God is a genie and you kind of rub the prayer bowl … and God comes out and says, “Your wish is My command!”
a. But I submit to YOU my brother and my sisters … That if that was possible … it would actually make God your servant.
b. IT REVERSES THE ROLES. But, … God does not exist to fulfill every whim of OUR life. INSTEAD, WE exist to serve Him.)
c. IN OUR TEXT THIS AFTERNOON, we find the Apostle Paul earnestly praying for God to release him from his NAGGING AND PAINFUL TRIAL
d. BUT, his request was NOT GRANTED.
e. INSTEAD, GOD’S ANSWER WAS NO!
f. Therefore, instead of relief, AND AN AFFIRMING YES ANSWER TO HIS PRAYERS, PAUL RECEIVED … HOPE AND SUFFICIENT GRACE TO CARRY HIS SUFFERING AND TO ENABLE HIM TO ENDURE THE TRIAL.
g. FOR GOD’S DIVINE POWER IS MADE PERFECT IN OUR WEAKNESS AND THROUGH OUR DEPENDENTS ON HIM.
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MOVE 3: THE BIBLE SAYS PAUL HAD PRAYED 3 TIMES.
a. Like Job, Paul had suffer great physical affliction.
b. You may recall , in Galatian 4:13-14, Paul told Galatian that he knows that THEY LOVED HIM SO MUCH THAT if it HAD BEEN POSSIBLE … they would have plucked their own EYES OUT AND GIVEN THEM TO HIM THAT HE MIGHT SEE.
c. STILL, … PAULS’S GREAT PHYSICAL TRAGEDY WAS AT THE HAND OF DEVIL, WHO GOD allowed to whip-up on his servant – Paul.
d. So much So, that Paul was experiencing ACUTE AND SHARP PAIN …
e. PAUL, NO DOUBT, FELT THAT THIS TRIAL WAS FROM THE PITS OF HELL!
f. SO HE EARNESTLY PRAYED … BUT GOD’S ANSWER WAS NO. SO AFTER THE FIRST PRAYER AND PAUL’S PAIN DIDN’T SUBSIDE AND … THE PERSONAL INSULTS DIDN’T STOP
g. THE TRIALS SEEMILY INCREASED;
h. AFTER THE FIRST PRAYER , LIES WERE seemily CHARGING AT HIM (stronger than ever before). IN FACT, … THE LIES HAD GROWN EVEN SHARPER … NOW THE
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MOVE 4: LIES WERE LIKE PRECISION DARTS … TARGETED FOR HIS HEART … AND ULTIMATELY HIS SOUL.
a. SO PAUL prayed…… A SECOND TIME. THIS TIME , if you allow your imaginations to work with me, YOU CAN SEE PAUL ALSO …
b. THERE HE IS ON HIS KNEES …. CRYING OUT TO GOD …. THE GOD OF HIS MOTHER; AND THE GOD OF HIS FATHER; ASKING FOR RIGHT NOW HELP.
c. AND IF THE TRUTH WAS TOLD … WE ALL CAN SEE THAT PAUL WAS DOING MORE THAN JUST PRAYING … HE was FASTING TOO.
d. STILL, GOD’S ANSWER WAS NO!
e. AND LIKE US … THIS DISAPPOINTED PAUL TOO. FOR YOU SEE …. PAUL KNEW THAT HE HAD BEEN FAITHFULLY SERVING GOD’S PEOPLE FROM HIS HEART.
f. SO HE DIDN’T QUITE UNDERSTAND ….WHY HIS PRAYERS WEREN’T BEING ANSWERED.
g. HE HAD FAITHFULLY ESTABLISHED MANY CHURCHES FOR GOD. IN JESUS NAME HE HAD HEALED FOLK. IN JESUS NAME HE HAD PERSUADED MANY
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MOVE 5: SO, WHY WEREN’T HIS PRAYERS ANSWERED? …
a. FOR YOU SEE (MY BROTHERS AND MY SISTERS) …
b. PAUL HAD NO PROBLEMS RENDERING UNTO CESAR WHAT BELONGED TO
CESAR (IN THE FORM OF TAXES); AND HE WAS A GIVER!
c. HE BELIEVED IN GIVING … HIS TITHES AND OFFERING UNTO GOD.
d. THEN FINALLY, GOD’S ANSWER CAME IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
e. FOR YOU SEE … GOD WAS SEEMILY SILENT IN THE TWO PREVIOUS
PRAYERS .
f. BUT, THIS TIME, HEAVEN ALARMS GOES OFF …. TO EXTENT THAT PAUL
LITERALLY HEARD GOD’S RESPOND…
g. GOD SAID…PAUL THE ANSWER THAT I HAVE GIVEN IS ENOUGH …
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MOVE 6: MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS … I CAN HEAR PAUL IN DIALOGUE
WITH GOD … SAYING …. PARDON ME GOD … BUT WHAT DO YOU
MEAN … THAT YOUR ANSWER IS ENOUGH?
a. I’M STILL HURTING ;
b. FOLK ARE STILL LYING ON ME;
c. THE ENEMEY IS STILL ATTACKING ME;
d. MY BODY IS IN SO MUCH PAIN SOMETIMES THAT I CAN BARELY MOVE.
e. GOD … WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT YOUR GRACE IS SUFFICENT?
f. AND MY PAIN MUST CONTINUE?
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MOVE 7: I BELIEVE GOD RESPONDED TO PAUL BY REMINDING HIM OF HIS SON AND PAUL’S SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST (IN MATTHEW 26:36-46) IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSAMANE …
a. AND HOW HE … also … PRAYED 3 TIMES FOR GOD TO REMOVE THE BITTER CUP FROM HIM …
b. BUT GOD’S ANSWER WAS NO!
c. MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS … WHEN GOD SAYS NO, IT’S SOMETIMES DIFFICULTY TO HANDLE.
d. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU KNOW THAT YOU’RE NOT PRAYING SELFISHLY.
e. INSTEAD … YOU’RE PRAYING FOR SOMETHING THAT YOU BELIEVE WILL BENEFIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
f. YOU’RE NOT ASKING GOD FOR A MILLION DOLLARS OR FOR SOMEONE ELSES SPOUSE …
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MOVE 8: SOMETIMES GOD’S ANSWER IS NO BECAUSE HE SEES THE BIG
PICTURE.
a. HE HAS A BIGGER PERSPECTIVE THAN YOU AND ME.
b. GOD SEES THE WHOLE PICTURE.
c. WE DON’T!
d. GOD HAS A WIDER VIEW BECAUSE HE CAN EVEN SEE THE FUTURE.
e. FOR DON’T YOU REMEMBER … THE BIBLE SAYS IN Heb. 4:13 (Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes
of him with whom we have to do)
f. IN OTHER WORDS .. GOD KNOWS ABOUT EVERYONE … EVERYWHERE …
g. NOTHING IS HIDDEN UNTO HIM.
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MOVE 9: He KNOWS ABOUT OUR SITUATIONS AND HE FEELS OUR PAINS …
a. BUT HE also KNOWS WHATS BEST FOR US … BECAUSE HE SEES WHAT LIES AHEAD OF US.
b. NOW, WE MIGHT NOT LIKE THE FACT THAT GOD DOESN’T FOLLOW OUR ADVICE
c. AND HE DOESN’T ANSWER ALL OUR PRAYERS WITH AN AFFIRMING YES.
d. BUT OUR KNOWLEDGE IS finite.
e. IT’S LIKE THE JOKE ABOUT THE TWO PREACHERS THAT WERE STANDING ON THE OPPOSITIE SIDES OF THE ROAD HOLDING A SIGN UP THAT READ “THE END IS NEAR.”
f. A GUY IN A CAR DRIVES BY AND SHOUTS “WHY DON’T YOU PREACHERS GET A LIFE; AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
g. SECONDS LATER THE PREACHERS HEARD A BIG CRASH. THAT’S WHEN ONE PREACHER TURN TO THE OTHER AND SAID: “MAYBE WE SHOULD CHANGE OUR SIGNS TO SAY: ‘BRIDGE OUT!’
h. LIKEWISE, MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS .. GOD SEES AHEAD OF US … BUT NOT ONLY DOES HE SEES AHEAD …
i. BUT THE SECOND REASON WHY GOD’S
ANSWER IS NO … IS BECAUSE HE HAS A BETTER PLAN THAN … WE DO.
j. ISAIAH SAYS IN 55:8-9 (For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.).
k. IN OTHER WORDS … GOD PLANS TO ANSWER OUR PRAYERS BUT HE PLANS TO DO IT IN DIFFERENT WAYS…. HIS WAYS!
l. BECAUSE LIKE FORD … GOD HAS BETTER IDEAS.
m. HE HAS MORE THAN ONE WAY OF DOING THINGS. HIS OPTIONS ARE UNLIMITED. FOR GOD …
n. IT’S NOT JUST YES OR NO WITH HIM. BUT … IT’S WHICH OF THE THOUSANDS OF OPTIONS WILL I USE TO ANSWER THIS PRAYER.
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CELEBRATION:
GOD HAS BETTER PLANS. LIKE PAUL AND JOB …
WE HAVE TO TRUST GOD TO DO THE RIGHT THING!
EVEN WHEN IT DOESN’T LOOK OR FEEL RIGHT.
WE HAVE TO TRUST HIM AT HIS WORD. EVEN WHEN HIS WORD IS … NO.
JOB … WAS A PRAYERFUL MAN … ONE THAT KEPT HIS CHILDREN IN HIS PRAYERS. HE HAD FAITHFULLY ATTENDED TO THE DUTIES THAT GOD HAD INTRUSTED UNTO HIM.
AND STILL … HAVING SUFFERED FROM LOSING HIS ENTIRE FAMILY IN A TRAGEDY…
HAVING SEEN HIS ENTIRE FINANCIAL PORTFOLIO GO TO RUIN;
AND HAVING SEEN HIS CLOSEST CHURCH GOING BUDDIES … TRY TO CONVINCE HIM THAT HE HAD SIN BEFORE GOD WHILE HIS BODY WAS SIMULTANEOSLY RACKING WITH PAIN …
SIMPLY BECAUSE OF HIS … TROUBLES….
SAID: … IN JOB 13:15B … THOUGH HE SLAY ME … YET WILL I TRUST HIM.
(THERE’S AN OLD BAPTIST HYMN THAT SOME OF YOU MAY KNOW THAT SAYS …
…I’M GONNA TRUST IN THE LORD UNTIL I DIE …
I’M GONNA TREAT EVERYBODY RIGHT, UNTIL I DIE…)
