Summary
Pastor Safrit discusses three types of pain—physical, emotional, and mental—drawing from Job 14, Psalms 55, and Psalms 73. He emphasizes that while suffering is a common human experience, Jesus offers hope and comfort in difficult times, as illustrated in Luke 23 with the criminal on the cross. The main point is that recognizing shared pain and responding with sensitivity can lead to healing, encouraging believers to turn to Jesus as their source of strength and hope.
Introduction and Church Information
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All right, so there's three types of pain that we're going to go through, all right? And this is all throughout scripture, and it's common sense.
It's nothing like you're not going to walk away from these three points and say, well, that was something new I've never heard before, okay? So the first type of pain that we're going to suffer in life is physical pain, physical pain.
Job 14 says it like this, he feels only the pain of his own body and mourns only for himself.
How many of you in here have ever experienced physical pain before? I've never broke a bone. I've never experienced any type of hurt. But as Scott said this week, on Tuesday morning, Brody woke up at 3.30 in the morning and screaming in pain.
I didn't get woken up until about 6 o'clock. I am a hard rock sleeper. I don't wake up for anything.
You could break into my house. A bomb can go off. I'm not waking up, okay? That's just how it is. And so Allie finally woke me up at 6 and said, your son's in pain. We've got to figure this out. So I get up. I get ready.
We take him to the hospital. The whole way there, he's in pain. Dad, I don't know why I'm in pain. I'm hurting.
They did scans. They gave him medicine. They finally tried to figure out what was going on. But physical pain is real.
We experience physical pain and all other parts of our body begin to shut down, right? We can't think right. We can't function right because the physical pain that's in our body is overwhelming every other part of our body.
And as Job said that he feels only the pain of his own body and he begins to mourn for himself because physical pain is real. Physical pain is true.
And we will suffer physical pain in our life. We're part of our human body. As we get older, we begin to have more aches and pains, right?
My knees didn't used to pop the way they pop now. And I feel like I walked down a stair and I'm like, man, I feel like I'm 50 years old. Okay?
But it was years of playing football, years of being active and physical pain happens. There's a second type of pain that we're going to experience and it's emotional pain. An emotional breakup or an emotional hurt that's happened in our life.
Psalms 55 says it like this, my heart is severely pained within me and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Emotional Pain and Overwhelm
So this is the emotional pain that begins to overwhelm our mind where emotionally we just can't exist, it feels like.
And emotion begins to come in and begins to ravage our mind and ravage our body and we are severely pained as the psalmist says.
And then psalmist continues to go on with the third type of pain in Psalm 73 with the mental pain. In Psalm 73, 16 it says, when I thought how to understood this, it was too painful for me to understand.
And so we have this mental pain where mentally we just can't comprehend why is this happening to me? I often think Job suffered this mental pain as well.
And his wife suffered this mental pain as well because he had the physical pain that was emotional there. But then mentally she comes to him and she says, Job, what are you doing?
Why are you suffering through this? Curse God and die. Mentally she just couldn't put words to actions.
Revelation 21, 4 says that God will one day wipe away every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more. Grief, crying, and pain will be no more. Because the previous things have passed away.
It's a hope and it's an encouragement for us that even though we're suffering right now, there is hope to come. There's hope that one day this suffering will be gone away.
Romans 8, 22 says, For we know the whole creation has been groaning together with labor pains until Jesus comes back. The whole creation, we're part of that creation. We understand that we will go through these things just as Jesus went through these things. As Jesus was suffering this great suffering of pain.
And he began to realize what is going on and where he's at and these men that are beside him.
And oftentimes we're going to go through difficult circumstances. We're going to go through difficult times. And we need to ask ourselves, how can we manage to offer hope in these difficult times?
As a pastor, this is something that's near and dear to my heart, right? I often will get calls.
Pastor James, so-and-so is on the brink of death. Can you come and pray with us? Can you come and spend time with us? Pastor, so-and-so has broke their arm and we don't know what's going on. Can you come and spend time with us? Pastor, we're going through a marriage difficulty.
Can you come and just spend some time with us and pray with us? My kid is estranged and he doesn't want to be around the Lord anymore. He doesn't want to be around church anymore. Can you come and give us some words of encouragement?
Learning from Jesus' Example
And oftentimes I will go back to some of these thoughts of Jesus because Jesus offered hope in difficult times.
And if Jesus can offer hope in difficult times, we also can learn from Jesus and offer hope in those difficult times. And the first thing we have to do is realize that others are in the same pain. Realize that others are in the same pain that we are going through. Right?
The Bible says in 1 Corinthians that no temptation or pain has come upon you that is common to humanity.
But God is faithful and he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. But the temptation,
he also provides a way out so that you'll be able to bear it. You see, pain has a way of consuming our thoughts. It has a way of consuming every part of our actions and every part of what we're going to do.
And so when we realize that others are in this same mindset, others are in this pain with us, it begins to offer hope in a way. Right? John said it like this as John was writing the account of the two criminals. He says there are those that were crucifying him,
two others with him, one on either side, and Jesus was in the middle. Jesus was in the midst of what was going on. They had suffered. He had suffered. They were being persecuted.
He was being persecuted. So Jesus was there in the middle. And one of the criminals in Luke 23, as I read this, yells insults at him. Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself and us. Matthew recounts it like this as Jesus was giving his words of encouragement to people that were hurting.
You realize that 2,000 years ago, technology may have not been there.
Automobiles may have not been there. Social media may have not been there. But people still experience the same type of struggles that we experience today. People were still going through some of the same trials and tribulations that we are going through, if not more then than now. Okay?
They were being persecuted and killed for their faith in the first century. And Jesus in Matthew 11 began to give this great account in Matthew 11, 28.
And he says this, Come to me, all who are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
And so Jesus begins to lay out this thought of there's a way for us to have rest. And he begins to lay out two people, two types of people that are in pain, those who labor. You see, some people labor to cause the burden, the sin, and the load.
Burden of Responsibilities
Right? And sometimes it's not malicious in this sense. It may just be a boss giving you a job to do, and it's a labor. It's a load that's on you.
There are some who are called to do that. Some are malicious about this, and they may cause pain and heartache in your life. But Jesus goes on to say there's some of those who labor, but there's also those who have a heavy laden.
These are the ones that are laden. They're laden with the burden, and oftentimes it's not a fault of their own. And Jesus makes this wonderful statement.
He says when you're brought with pain, whether someone else burdened you with it, or whether you burdened yourself with it, he says these three words come unto me.
See, he doesn't say, well, you're going to have labor, and you're going to have laden, and you're going to have trials and tribulations that you're not going to understand, and, you know, try to figure it out.
You know, go and talk to someone on a social media app, or go on a social board and say, hey, I'm doing these things. How do I get through it? No, no. Jesus says, come unto me.
And the only way we're going to be able to get help through difficult times is when we come to Jesus, and we understand that he is the sole source of our strength and our hope in life and death. First Peter says it like this, He says,
verses 5, chapter 5, 8, and 9, He says, Be sober-minded. Be alert.
Your adversary, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him.
Firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of suffering are being experienced by your fellow believers all throughout the world. You see, Peter understood this. He understood that you're going to suffer.
We're going to go through hard times, and everyone all throughout humanity has gone through this, and all throughout the world are also going through this.
You see, when we realize that others are in the same pain that we're in, we begin to manage this difficult time with the hope in Christ. Because there's one source of hope that we have, and that is Jesus Christ.
But not only do we realize that others are in the same pain, we must remain sensitive to the needs of others.
You see, it's one thing to realize that there's pain in others, but there's another thing to be sensitive in that area, and to be sensitive in this type of comfort that can come. Look at how Jesus, again, Luke 23, 40, and 42, but the other answered, rebuking him.
This is the criminal. Do you not fear God? You're undergoing the same punishment.
The Thief on the Cross
We're punished justly, but this man is doing what he doesn't deserve.
This man has done nothing wrong, and he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
I like how Matthew puts it in Matthew 27. Let's look at this. It says, The two criminals were crucified with him, one on the right hand and one on the left, and those that passed by were yelling insults at him. And he said,
You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. You said that you would do this, and the soldier made this statement, Save yourself.
And if you are the Son of God, come down from the cross. In the same manner, the chief priests began to get onto the same boat. They began to mock him, and they said, See, he saved others, but he can't save himself. He said he's the King of Israel.
Let him come down, and now to the cross, and we'll believe in him if he comes down from the cross now. All of a sudden, they began to mock him, and they began to insult him in his most vulnerable state in his humanity. He trusts God in verse 20, 43,
Let God rescue him now. If he take pleasure in him, for he said, I am the Son of God. And then in the same way, even the criminals who were crucified him began to taunt him as well.
I began to put myself in this situation. I began to put my mind in this moment. Jesus hanging on the cross, he's dying for the sins of humanity. He's dying for my sins and your sins, and in this moment,
they began to mock his very divinity of who he is and what he claimed to be. They began to make the statement,
If you truly are God's Son, come down from the cross now, and we'll believe. We'll allow the kingdom of God to be ushered into our midst if only you come down from the cross. The thief said like this, Don't you even fear God? God, this thief that was being punished beside him,
the only sane person in this midst, right? The soldiers are crucifying him, the chief priests and the scribes, they're hurling insults.
The guy beside him, he's mocking him, and the one sane guy began to say, Do you guys even fear God? Like, this guy's in pain as well. Don't forget, he had the same torture that Jesus had. He was whipped, he was beaten, he was mocked.
He makes a statement, We are punished justly because we're getting back what we deserve.
I'm not saying we all deserve everything that we go through, but this man understood some things that we didn't understand because he realized there was sensitivity in the needs of Jesus in this moment.
Compassion of the Thief
And he makes a statement, Jesus, this man has done nothing wrong.
So I began to think through that, and I think through this man on the other side of the cross that had this compassion toward Jesus, he had a matter that was not just words, but it was the direction of his heart.
His heart was in the right mindset, his heart was in the right motive, and he began to turn to Jesus, and he began to say, Jesus, if you are this person, if you are the Son of God, forgive me and remember me when you come into your kingdom.
You see, becoming a follower of Christ means giving as much of myself as I can understand in that moment to Jesus,
and the rest of your life you'll continue to grow in Christ. It's the moment you're in right now. You say, God, I may not be able to offer you everything.
I may not have that much what we call sanctification, but I'm gonna give you as much as I can right now, and I'm gonna continue to grow every single day into service and sacrifice for you,
and ultimately, it gets back to where our heart is at. This man's heart was soft and tender toward God, and he said, remember me. Just two words, remember me. And oftentimes, in our moment of hurt and our moment of suffering,
we're not sensitive to others, and we don't even get to this part where we can say, remember me. But then we get to see, not only do we realize the pain, not only do we remain sensitive, but we get to this point where we respond in the meekness in the time of trouble.
Jesus responded in meekness. Can you imagine Jesus in this moment? Imagine yourself in this moment.
You were just beat by the scribes and Pharisees. You've got a crown of thorns on your head. They're mocking you. They're persecuting you.
They're slapping you in the face. They spit on you as you walk. They begin to say, you're not even the son of God. They begin to question who he was in every moment.
And you're sitting there and you're like, man, I've got enough power. I spoke the world into existence. I could call down 10,000 angels in this moment and wipe out all creation.
In our humanity, that's probably what I would have responded with. Right? I'm gonna just wipe them all out. I'm done with them. They rejected me. They crucified me. I'm done with this people. But what did Jesus respond with? Truly, I tell you.
Almost he looks over in compassion to the man there and he says, today, you remember, every word he spoke
Assurance of Paradise
was excruciatingly painful to breathe in and to be able to scrape that back against that rugged cross. It was painful for him to say these words and he said, today, you will be with me in paradise.
You can almost see how he's, how he's, he's taking this, this time to even say this. It wouldn't have been how we would have said it. As I, I break that down, he says, truly, I tell you. He's saying that in a world of deception, in a world of
false narratives, in a world of people twisting truth, Jesus says, I am going to tell you the truth and I'm going to give you the truth in this moment. Truly, I'm telling you today, salvation is immediate.
It's not gradual, but it's immediate where we trust in God today and Jesus says it's relevant today for us as well here in 2024 on April 7th.
And he says, you will be. Think of the security. Think of the assurance that that man just had when Jesus said, you, you specifically will be with me. All the amount of comfort and the amount of grace that Jesus showed, the mercy that Jesus showed in this moment. And he says, with me.
My mind went to that famous passage in Romans where Jesus, where Paul is saying to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. And how in that moment when that criminal breathed his last breath, he was present in the flight of Jesus. And he says, in paradise.
This is the eternal place of rest with Jesus. And as we look through these couple of statements, we understand that there was only one person in all throughout history from past, present, and future that had this kind of power. power.
The power to transform a human life from death into life and as far as we can understand in this moment of finality where he says that this is done and today you will be with me in paradise. Oftentimes, others are looking for hope
and church, we have the answer. That answer is one name that is greater than all other names. We sing it all the time. His name is Jesus.
One of the songs that I listen to on repeat right now is a song by Charity Gale called Just Speak Jesus. Listen to the words.
I want to speak the name of Jesus. You could probably sing it with me. Over every heart and over every mind. Because I know there's peace within your presence. I speak Jesus.
I just want to speak the name of Jesus till every dark addiction starts to break declaring there's hope and there's freedom.
Worship and Declaration
I speak Jesus. Your name is power. Your name is healing. Your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. I speak Jesus.
Church, how far have we gotten sometimes where we'll run to whatever it may be that we think is going to help us in those times of troubles and we don't take it from this criminal where the criminal said
the only hope I have right now on earth is right here to my right or to my left whichever side he was on.
Right there in the middle that's the hope that I have and that's the hope that I'm going to turn to. And how often do we not turn to that hope?
As Michaela comes and plays and I begin to wind down 1 Peter says it like this but in your hearts regard Christ as Lord holy ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for
a reason for the hope that is in you. Church, this morning we have a hope in us that is firm and secure in Jesus Christ. Maybe you're here this morning and you don't have that hope.
You're like the criminal on the other side that's mocking Jesus and you've ran from Jesus and Jesus is standing there with his arms open wide and he says come to me. You see many times I've found that the Lord will lead us to others who are experiencing similar trials
for the specific purpose to comfort them. You know I didn't know a lot of people in my high school career that went through divorce
and all of a sudden I had went through divorce and I thought my life was coming to an end and I still didn't run into a lot of people but all of a sudden I got to college
and I began to run into individual after individual that had went through a divorce. I was sitting there with my wife one day in chapel her dad was going through his fifth divorce and I looked over at her and I said Allie
of course we were in Bible college we weren't allowed to touch I couldn't put my arm around her I said Allie I don't know what you're going through I don't know why you're going through this
but I know that one day you're going to have a teenage girl in our youth group because we're going to get married one day and you're going to use this trial that you're going through to help them and sure enough two years in
had a teenage girl come to us mom and dad busted marriage and I said Allie this is the person that we prayed for
Helping Others Through Pain
you experienced that trouble and that trial and that moment to be able to help out this girl
and often times we will go through these experiences in our life so that we can comfort others
that have hurt us I shared this scripture with her then I'll share it with you now 2 Corinthians 1 3 and 4 Blessed be God our Father our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of all mercies and the God
of all comfort He comforts us in our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are any kind of affliction through the comfort which we ourselves receive from God you see we go through trials and tribulations
ultimately to give that hope and assurance to other people in our life and this is my challenge before I give our last story don't waste your pain you say well Pastor James I don't want to go through pain
yeah I'm sure no other disciple decided that they wanted to go through pain either no other martyr! I don't want to go through pain either but yet we still experience it and
so when we go through this pain that's in our life we say God what are you doing in my life and how can I give hope to others how can I turn this hope around to other people
so I was studying this week and even this morning I came across this story it was a story as we were thinking about paradise thinking about this this this this this criminal who had done so much wrong
it's a story of a doctor who made house calls back in the day I never experienced this we always went to the doctor I had to take Brody to the hospital no doctor came and saw us but back
in the day there was a man who had a dog with him that he used for protection he had a horse and he had a carriage
and he went to visit a dying man and as he went into this man's house he left his dog on the front step to sort of protect him the dying man said to the doctor Doc what's it going to be like
he said what's heaven going to be like when I get there and at that moment the doctor's dog that was out front began scratching at the door whimpering and whining and he wanted to get in the doctor stopped and said do you hear that the man said yeah
the doctor replied that's my dog he's never been inside this house
he doesn't know what it's like inside this house he doesn't know what it's like inside here all he knows is I'm inside
Mystery of Heaven
and if the master's in there then it must be okay and he's trying to get inside
what we don't know is Jesus didn't describe a lot of what heaven was going to be like or paradise was going to be like but what we know is that Jesus is there and if he's there then it
must be okay because he said one day we'll be with him in paradise if we believe if our hope is in Christ then that's where we'll spend eternity but this morning I fear some of us don't know that
hope some of us don't have that hope and that assurance that Jesus is our life and today may it be the day for you maybe you're listening online maybe you're you're just watching on YouTube for some random chance at this moment
maybe you're here in this auditorium and you want to trust in Jesus let that be today as the criminal on the cross said today I want to be in paradise with you
let that be our promise today maybe you're here and you've suffered lately maybe you're here and you've suffered pain we've had some pain in our church lately it's fitting that this is where Jesus led me to preach many
months ago to go through this because I didn't plan that we were going to go through that I didn't plan that people were going to go through suffering but all of a sudden we have this pain in our life and how are we using that in order to help other people
whatever it may be today use this time of invitation
for the sake of God let's pray Lord we love you we thank you for what you've done Lord help us this morning as we focus on you as we focus on what you did for us that day
Lord that you would give the honor and praise and the glory out of everything that's said and done maybe there's one here that doesn't know you
Lord maybe there's one here that's struggled with their faith struggled with their pain that they've went through that they would just come and give that back to you and say God who can I help today who can I give my story to to help in this moment of struggle
Lord we love you we thank you for what you've done be with this invitation in your name we pray Amen thank you again for taking your time to listen to the sermon audio of Pleasant Grove please subscribe to get our latest sermons each week let's hear sorry Thank you.
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