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IS THERE HELP NOW?
A. Introduction: The first Christians had an eternal perspective, a view of reality that enabled them to face
life’s challenges with a peace of mind that came from hope for the future.
1. An eternal perspective lives with the awareness that there is more to life than just this life, and that
we are only passing through this world in its present form. An eternal perspective understands that
the greater and better portion of our life is after this life, and lives with an awareness that there will
ultimately be an end to and a reversal of life’s troubles in the life to come.
a. Paul the apostle wrote: II Cor 4:17—Our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very
long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever (NLT).
b. This perspective helped Paul endure a very difficult life. He knew that everything he faced
was temporary—even if it lasted his entire life. He also knew that what is ahead in the life to
come will far outshine anything he had to deal with in this life. He knew that whatever it cost
him to serve the Lord, whatever he lost in this life, it would be restored in the life to come.
2. Knowing what is ahead lightened the load of Paul’s very difficult life. Notice that he called what is
ahead in the life to come glory. In previous lessons we’ve made the point that the word glory
is used in several ways in the Scriptures.
a. Glory is used in connection with Almighty God. He is a glorious Being who does glorious
things. It is also used in connection with the salvation that God provides for us through Jesus.
b. God’s plan is for human beings is that we become His sons and daughters through faith in Him
and partake of His Spirit and life (His glory), and reflect Him (His glory) to the world around us.
1. Because of sin all of us have fallen from this position of glory. But Jesus died a sacrificial
death on the Cross to open the way for us to be restored to glory. Ps 8:4-5
2. Heb 2:9-10—Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in in the world, and it was
only right that God who made everything and for whom everything was made—should bring
his many children into glory. Through the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect leader,
one fit to bring them into their salvation (NLT).
A. We now participate in God’s glory through His indwelling Spirit and life, and we are now
being progressively restored by His Spirit in us to all that He intends us to be. II Cor 3:18
B. Our bodies will ultimately be glorified (made alive with God’s Spirit and life, immortal
and incorruptible) at the resurrection of the dead, when Jesus returns. Phil 3:20-21
c. The Bible also uses the word glory for Heaven and for the life after this life, when we see the Lord
face to face and live with Him a in place where there is continual joy, happiness, contentment and
well-being beyond anything we’ve ever experienced. Ps 73:24-25
3. We’ve been talking a lot about future glory—meaning the life to come and the completion of God’s
plan to have a family of sons and daughters who are fully glorifying to Him and live with Him in a
world free from sorrow, pain, and death. This brings up the question: Is there no help now?
B. To begin to answer this question, we must understand the harsh realities of life in a broken world, a sin
cursed earth, as well as what God is working to accomplish in our lives.
1. There is no such thing as a problem free life in this fallen world. You can do everything right and
things still go wrong. When Adam, the first man, sinned a curse of corruption and death infused the
human race and the entire earth. John 16:33; Matt 6:19; Gen 2:17; Gen 3:17-19; Rom 5:12-14
a. We live with the consequences of this curse every day. We live in a world where things
corrode and break down. We have bodies that are mortal and subject to sickness, injury, old
age, and death. We interact daily with selfish, corrupt people, and even evil people who
make choices that affect our lives in negative ways.
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b. People want to know why do bad things happen? Why is there such suffering, tragedy, and
heartbreak in the world. The short answer is: Because that’s life in a sin cursed earth.
1. Salvation is not about making this life the highlight of your existence. Even if you have
wonderful, problem free life and your dreams come true, old age and death take it away.
2. God is working toward the complete and permanent restoration and transformation of all
that has been damaged by sin. This includes all who come to faith in Him, along with
the earth itself. Eph 1:4-5; Acts 3:21
2. To appreciate what this means for our lives now as we navigate through this sin cursed earth, we
need to add another element to our discussion, something that helped Paul. Paul knew that
there is glory ahead in the life to come, but he also knew that in this life, God works for good.
. a. Paul wrote Rom 8:28—God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love
him (20th Cent); in everything God works for good for those who love him, who are called
according to his purpose (RSV). Good means useful and profitable; beneficial.
b. Let’s read the context of Rom 8:28-30—We know that to those who love God, who are called
according to his plan, everything that happens fits into a pattern for good. For God, in
his foreknowledge, chose them to bear the family likeness of his Son, that he might be the
eldest in a family of many brothers. He chose them long ago; when the time came, he
called them, he made them righteous in his sight, and then lifted them to the splendour of
life as his own sons (J. B. Phillips).
1. God’s eternal plan to have holy sons and daughters who are Christ-like in character.
Jesus is God become man—fully God and fully man. In His humanity Jesus shows
us what sons and daughters of God look like—their character and behavior.
2. God’s ultimate purpose is to restore us to glory as sons and daughters who are fully
glorifying to Him (like Jesus in character, behavior, and body) who then live with
Him forever on this earth made new. Rev 21-22
c. God is so big and so great that He can cause life’s hardships (even events He doesn’t
orchestrate) to serve his ultimate purpose for a family of sons and daughters who are
Christ-like in every part of their being and fully glorifying to Him.
d. Paul knew this and it lightened the load of his life. In II Cor 4:17 Paul wrote that life’s
troubles produce a great glory that will last forever (NLT). The Greek word that Paul
used means to accomplish, achieve, finish.
3. The greatest example of God working or using an evil to accomplish His eternal purpose is the
crucifixion of Jesus, an act orchestrated by Satan and carried out by wicked men, with
evil intentions (Luke 22:3). Yet the Lord was able to use this event. However, the Lord
used this event to bring about salvation for all who bow their knee to Almighty God, the
Lord Jesus Christ.
a. Peter the apostle described the crucifixion in these terms: Acts 2:22-23—Men of Israel, hear
these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and
wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this
Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you
crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men (ESV).
1. Almighty God knew what was going to happen before it happened and worked it into
His plan for a family. Jesus’ death provided the sacrifice needed to open the way for
all who believe in Him to be forgiven and indwelled by God Himself. Rom 5:1-2
2. In the hands of Almighty God who is Omnipotent (All-powerful), Omniscient (Allknowing), and Omnipresent (Present everywhere at once), Jesus’ suffering ended in
glory and great good. I Pet 1:11; Luke 24:25-26
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b. Challenging circumstances are part of life in a sin cursed earth. The Bible gives numerous
examples of God using the hardships in this world, and causing them to serve His
purpose as He brings genuine good out of genuine bad (lessons for another day).
C. We also see that God puts off short term, temporal blessings like ending your troubles now, for long
term eternal results. We see this in Paul’s life? Consider several examples.
1. On one of Paul’s missionary journeys, he and Silas traveled to Philippi, a city in Macedonia
(northern Greece). They had success in the city, but a demon possessed slave girl began to follow
them around crying out: These are servants of the Most High God. Acts 16:9-34
a. The spirit enabled the girl to tell fortunes, and she made a lot of money for her owners.
She followed them for many days until Paul finally cast the devil out of her.
b. Her master s were furious and went to the local authorities, claiming that Paul and Silas
were teaching people to do things contrary to Roman law. City officials took Paul and
Silas, severely beat them, and threw them into the deepest part of the local prison, with
stocks on their feet.
1. At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God when an earthquake
occurred. All the prison doors flew open and all the chains fell of the prisoners. The
jailer awoke to open prison doors and, presuming that the prisoners had escaped, was
about to kill himself when Paul shouted: Don’t do it. We are all here!
2. The jailer fell down before Paul and Silas, crying out: What must I do to be saved?
The two men preached to the jailer’s entire household and all believed and were baptized.
c. Note that God didn’t stop the entire incident from happening. He saw a way to use it for
eternal purposes. Not only did the jailer and his family come to faith (tradition tells us that
the jailer became the pastor of the church at Philippi), how many other people did as well
when they heard about what happened?
2. Years later, when Paul was in Jerusalem, Jews in the city accused him of teaching Jews living in
Gentile (non-Jewish) areas to abandon the Law of Moses. And they also accused Paul defiling
the Temple in Jerusalem by bringing Gentiles into the Temple. Acts 21:26-Acts 28:31
a. The entire city was stirred up and a riot broke out. The end result: Paul was taken into
custody by the Romans and sent to the city of Caesarea to appear before Roman officials.
Paul was eventually sent to Rome to have his case heard before Caesar.
1. The ship carrying Paul to Rome encountered a horrific storm. Near the island of Malta,
the ship hit a shoal (a shallow place) ran aground, and was broken apart by the waves.
Those who could swim swam to the shore and those who couldn’t floated to shore debris
from the broken ship.
2. Once on the island. Paul was bitten by a deadly snake and didn’t die, which greatly
impacted the islanders. Later Paul laid hands on the sick father of a chief
government official, the man was healed, and the entire island was impacted. Paul
and Silas stayed on the island for three months until a ship could take them to Rome.
b. Why didn’t God prevent Paul from being arrested or the ship from crashing or the snake from
biting Paul? Because God saw a way to use all of it for eternal purposes. How many people
heard about and came to faith in Jesus?
3. Once in Paul arrived in Rome, he was held for two years before his case was heard, not knowing if
he would live or die. He was not executed and was eventually released. Paul wrote several
epistles (letters) during this period, including one to the believers in the city of Philippi, which
give us insight into his view of his circumstances.
a. Phil 1:12-14—I want you to know dear friends, that everything that has happened to me here
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has helped to spread the Good News. For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the
palace guard (Caesar’s household) know that I am in chains because of Christ. And because
of my imprisonment, many of the Christians have gained more confidence and become more
bold in telling others about Christ (NLT).
b. Phil 1:19—For I know that this will turn out for my salvation, through your prayer and the
supply of the Spirit of Christ (NKJV); for my preservation [for the spiritual health and welfare
of my own soul and avail toward the saving work of the Gospel] (Amp).
c. Paul knew that no matter what happened, God was at work causing it all to serve His ultimate
purposes for a family. Paul knew that God is able to bring good out of genuine bad. Some
of the good we see in this life and some in the life to come (more on this in later lessons)
4. In his letter to the Philippians Paul used the word joy (or a form of it twelve times): Phil 3:1—
Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord (NKJV). I never get tired of telling you this. I am
doing this for your own good (NLT); Phil 4:4—Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say,
rejoice (NKJV).
a. You may recall that while Paul and Silas were jailed in Philippi they prayed and sang praises
to God (Acts 16:25). On board the ship that wrecked while sailing to Rome Paul told the
crew to be of good cheer (Acts 27:22-26) because God had assured them that even
though the ship would be lost, they would all survive.
b. The Greek words Paul used mean to be cheerful, be glad. One of the words is made up of
two words (well and mind). Paul urged the Philippians not to feel cheerful, but to bring
to mind what God said to encourage themselves in the midst of troubles.
1. Paul wasn’t talking about an emotional response to God. He described himself in
another letter as being sorrowful yet rejoicing in the midst of hardship. II Cor 6:10
2. Paul was talking about acknowledging God in every circumstance through praising Him
for who He is and what He does—not because you feel like doing it, but because it is
always appropriate to praise Almighty God.
3. Paul knew that we bring glory to God and fulfill our created purpose when you praise
Him. Ps 50:23—He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me (NAB); and he
prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God (NIV).
c. Paul viewed his many troubles as momentary and light in comparison to the life after this life,
and kept his mind focused on that reality through praise to God: II Cor 4:18—Things
that are seen don’t last forever, but things that are not seen are eternal. That’s why we
keep our minds on the things that cannot be seen (CEV).
d. Paul understood that eternal realities are more important that temporal comforts. In his letter
Paul referred to the Philippians as his joy and crown (Phil 4:1). Paul’s reward in the life
to come would be these people with him in the presence of the Lord.
D. Conclusion: Paul’s life experience shows us that God doesn’t always stop life’s troubles, but He does
get us through them until He gets us out. And, the Lord causes them to serve His eternal purpose for a
family, bringing good out them. Some of the results are seen in this life, others in the life to come.
1. You may be thinking: That was true for Paul, but I am a nobody. The Bible gives us examples
of ordinary people doing ordinary things, and God worked it into His plan for a family. But that’s
another lesson for another day.
2. God created you to become His son or daughter, just as He created Paul for that destiny. Jesus
died for you as surely as He died for Paul. We can’t stop life’s troubles, but life’s troubles can’t
stop God’s ultimate plan for you. One day we will see the effect of His work behind the scenes in
our lives. Encourage yourself with these facts as you face your troubles. More next week!
